Nwuche: APC Has Lost Ideological Focus

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Read Time:2 Minute, 8 Second
A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Chibudum Nwuche, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of hobnobbing with dissident members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while pretending to have distinct ideological slant.
 
APC recently negotiated a deal to have five dissenting governors of the PDP from Kwara, Kano, Sokoto, Adamawa and Jigawa States join its fold, thus setting the tone for a major realignment in the polity.
 
However, Nwuche who spoke to THISDAY in an interview yesterday, said contrary to APC’s posturing that it was pushing for a distinct political ideology, the party was dying and craving to clone PDP, by wooing its aggrieved members.
 
“I have been watching with a bit of amusement the ongoing efforts to woo several PDP leaders by APC,and I wonder with so many PDP leaders already in their fold,and some of whom are known reactionaries, if APC can still be termed a progressive party,” he said.
He said the move by APC to woo PDP members some of whom are known under performers, dictators and  corrupt is  not only preposterious but amounts to playing to the gallery.
 
Nwuche also said there was something curious about the effort to drag former President Olusegun Obasanjo into the opposition party even with known philosophical differences between him and the likes of General Muhammadu and Senator Bola Tinubu.
 
“I would have thought that with our huge population, APC could have found an abundance of talent to groom, along their claimed progressive ideology, instead of recycling PDP members. Nigeria is definitely in need of another ideological distinct and strong party and not one that will be a clone of any existing party.
 
On the visit of APC to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Nwuche said he saw nothing wrong with it, even though it was a bit curious because of the personalities involved.
 
“We know the history of the relationship between Obasanjo and Buhari and also Tinubu, and their philosophical differences dating back several years. It’s a confirmation of the classical saying that in politics there is no permanent enemies but permanent interest.
 
“The issue now becomes what is the interest they are after. If it is for the good of the country, its welcome, but if its a conspiracy to undermine President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP, then a prominent leader of the PDP like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo should not be involved in such a plot,” he added.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Atiku to Nigerians: Don’t Give up

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Read Time:1 Minute, 12 Second
Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, has congratulated Nigerians on the New Year and urged them to face the future with optimism that the new year will bring good tidings.
 
In a New Year message by his Media Office in Abuja, Atiku thanked God for keeping Nigeria together despite its myriad of security, political and socio-economic challenges.
 
"Despite our challenges in the area of security, infrastructure, politics and economy, I am grateful to God for keeping us together as one. It is my hope that we all will face the future of our country with confidence and fervent hope that God will grant us the better tomorrow we are working for,’’ he said.
 
The former vice-president, however, urged leaders in political offices at different levels to brace up for the challenges of nation-building and economic prosperity for the nation and its people.
 
He described as unacceptable the worsening poverty in the country, which is daily taking its toll on the ordinary citizens of Nigeria, adding that leaders should not take the continued patience of the Nigerian people for granted.
 
"With hard work and dedication, elected leaders and public servants can rise to the expected challenges of national development and economic prosperity to redress the deepening poverty of ordinary Nigerians in 2014. Public office holders should not take the magnanimity of the Nigerian people for granted,’’ Atiku said.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigerian Killed in India, Buried in Imo

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Read Time:1 Minute, 45 Second
The 35-year-old Nigerian, who was killed in Gao, India, on October 30, Simeon Obodo, has been buried in his hometown in Obogwe-Umunwaku   in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State.
 
A representative of the family, Ejike Esinkoye, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview yesterday, that the funeral service for Obodo was held at St Paul’s Catholic Church, Obogwe-Umunwaku and expressed dismay that the federal government did not send any official delegation to the burial.
 
He also said  the family had not received any compensation or assistance from India.
 
The murder of the Nigerian during a violent clash in the Indian village  sparked a diplomatic row between both countries.
 
Some 200 Nigerians in India protested Obodo’s murder by blocking a national highway and clashing with locals and police in the area.
Fifty-three of the protesting Nigerians were arrested and later released, after paying fees to secure their release.
 
The Director, Consular and Immigration Services at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdulazeez Dankano, had on December 16, said the diplomatic rift between both countries that Obodo’s murder caused was now “under control”.
  Dankano was part of a federal government delegation that visited New Delhi in early December to conclude negotiations on three agreements affecting the welfare of Nigerians in that country.
 
He said the Indian government had made some arrests in connection with Obodo’s murder but did not say whether the suspects had been charged.
 
Born on November 1, 1977,    the late Obodo attended Umunwaku Primary School in Ohaji/Egbema and Umunwaku Secondary School from 1992 to 1998.
According to a biography published by the family, the late Obodo worked and lived in Port Harcourt before travelling to Liberia in 2009.
 
The late Obodo, who left Nigeria for India on January 9, before his   death on November 30, few days to his 36th birthday, is survived by an aged mother, a daughter and a wife.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Stakeholders Want Ondo APC Members’ Registration Handled by Outsiders

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Read Time:2 Minute, 15 Second
Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has suggested that registration of members in the state should be conducted by people from other states to avoid the activities by some cabals, who may want to hijack the party.
 
The call was part of the recommendation in the communiqué issued at the end of their meeting and jointly signed by two chieftains of the party, Dr. Akerele Adu and Mr. Olumiyiwa Oniye.
 
The stakeholders, who called for cautions among members, also recommended that the congress of the party should take place immediately after registration adding that the congress must be conducted by the South-west  caucus of the party because the  state is a special  case.
The communiqué cautioned members not to allow the past mismanagement of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to repeat itself in the new APC in the state.
 
They said though they had put the past behind them, at the same time they would not like to live by it, adding that the past was also important for them to prepare and build future.
 
The stakeholders demanded  that the defunct  ACN  leadership  in the state  needs to give  account of stewardship, especially the managers of the October 20, 2012 governorship elections in the state,  noting that “no matter  the outcome of any election, there must be a post-mortem exercise and post- mortem report to guide  us for future purpose, according to Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
 
“Our performance and attitude in the last election was a disappointment to the public, especially the people of the state. Opinion polls during the last election favoured us and our party was seen as new bride coming on board in the state.
 
“Couple with landmark performance of the  ACN governors in other state of the federation, we had a brighter  chance that was mismanaged, jeopardised,
squandered and corruptibly bastardised by the imposed managers of the election to enrich their pockets, banks, that of their family members and associates at the expense of all Ondo State people, this attitude  should not be swept under the carpet  for the APC to strive in the state.”
 
They said the then ACN would have been able to change and correct the situation in the state if it had won the last election, a dictate to a turnaround of our economic and resourceful developments.
 
The stakeholders commended the doggedness of the APC leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, who they said had been fighting for the oneness of the Yoruba nation.
 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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FG Urged to Prioritise Road Construction in 2014

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Read Time:2 Minute, 14 Second
The National Coordinator of the Oodua People's Congress (OPC), Chief Gani Adams, has urged the federal government to ensure that social amenities, such as road construction, provision of potable water, healthcare centres among others are given priority in the 2014 budget.
 
Adams, who disclosed this while speaking at the 2013 edition of Ogun Ajobo/Elegbera festival in Ikorodu, said the call had become imperative given the bad state of infrastructure, especially roads in the South-west states.
The OPC leader, who admonished leaders from the South-west to join in the task of developing the region, also charged Yoruba sons and daughters to desist from labelling deities of the race as evil.
 
He said Ikorodu used to be the link to Lagos in the past, before the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, stating that subsequent governments had abandoned the ancient town.
 
“But for Ikorodu to fully attain its potentials, there is a need for all of us to play our roles, particularly , the federal government must rise up to joining hands to restore Ikorodu to its place of pride,” he said.
 
He further noted that before the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ikorodu was the link road to Lagos, adding that other roads, notably the Ikorodu-Shagamu road and the Ikorodu-Ijebu-Ode road have suffered many years of neglect.  
 
“I, therefore, call on the federal government to please reconstruct these roads. By doing this, the federal government would have complemented the efforts of the Lagos State Government. The roads will not only make Ikorodu attractive for businessmen to invest but also serve as alternative routes for people travelling out of Lagos,” he added.
 
Adams, who enjoined the sons and daughters of Ikorodu town to join hands with the foundation to promote Ogun Ajobo/Elegbera festival to world standard, said: “And I say that you and I can join hands today to make Ikorodu a tourist destination if we develop this festival to world standard.”
 
He also used the festival to “remind Nigerians that the world is gradually looking inward to discover ways of boosting their local economies. The era when oil and other natural resources are the main source of income for countries is gradually coming to an end.”
 
Adams, while speaking on Ogun said: “Ogun plays a very important role in the lives of human beings. Almost all our activities revolve around this important deity. As the car we drive, the air planes, we travel in, the spoon we eat with, the cutlass we use and other things are symbols of Ogun.”

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: We Shall Not Delay Bill on More LG Areas

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Read Time:2 Minute, 34 Second
The Deputy Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Akintunde Adegboye, has said the assembly would not delay the consideration of the bill on the creation of additional local government areas in the state.
 
He said the priority of the assembly now is the consideration of the 2014 budget, stressing that immediately after the budget, the local government creation bill would be considered.
 
Also, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Temitope Ilori, said the main focus of the budget on health in 2014 was to complete the ongoing renovations of health facilities and equip them to standard.
 
The duo spoke at the Aregbesola Campaign Office, Ibokun during the end of the year reception organise for members of All Progressive Congress (APC) in Obokun Local Government Area by the Assistant Director (Community Forum), Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye.
 
The speaker said when additional local government areas  are eventually created, it would bring development closer to the people at the grassroots.
 
“The creation of additional local government areas all over the world is based on agitation and any government that is determined to bring government closer to the people meet these agitations. That is why we will not waste time on this bill. What is paramount to us now is the budget that we will work on between now and January and after that the consideration of the bill for the creation of new councils comes in.
 
“After the first reading of the bill, we will call for referendum where we will also have to address some agitations and from that we will know how soon it will take to approve the bill. At the end, we may have more than 27 local government areas being requested for and we may have less than that,” he said.
Addressing party members, Ilori said apart from focusing on the completion of the ongoing renovations of hospitals in the 2014 budget, the government would also invest in capacity building of health workers to maintain and improve their skills for them to imbibe the spirit of selfless service to humanity and change their attitude to work.
 
She added: “We are aware that there are some challenges in our healthcare services, but we are not folding our arm, we will not rest in our oars until we see that our people get the best.”
 
When conducted round the health facilities in Ibokun by Oyintiloye and leaders of the community, the commissioner commended the community for partnering with the government to erect a structure within the hospital premises.
 
Responding, Oyintiloye urged the people not to renege in their support for the state Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, who according to him, had been doing his best for the development of the state.
 
He called on those who have not registered to ensure that they register to vote when the electoral body begins the process, while those who need to re-validate their registration should do so at the appropriate time. 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Ex-PDP Scribe Declares Party Dead in Kwara

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Read Time:2 Minute, 53 Second
A former Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State, Mr. Yemi Afolayan, Monday said the party had not only lost its status as the ruling party in the state but was also dead.
 
Afolayan, who made this assertion in Ilorin in a statement made available to journalists, said: “We do not envy him in his dream and fantasy that the PDP is still ruling the nation because we know that in reality a government that has lost touch with the electorate may still occupy the state house but in the hearts and minds of the people.”
 
The former PDP scribe, who was reacting to media reports credited to the chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Prof. Shuaib
AbdulRaheem, to the effect that the PDP remains the ruling party in the country and in Kwara State, said: “While Prof. AbdulRaheem is entitled to his opinion, “we expect that as a man who had reached the pinnacle of academic pursuit and claim to be committed to the assignment of building national unity,  Professor Abdulraheem  should be more circumspect in his utterances as the newly found voice of the dead PDP in the state.”
 
He added: “PDP is no longer in power. And that can be attested to by the fact that daily thousands of people are joining the APC across the country and in the state  we wonder how many people are still left in the moribund PDP.
 
Afolayan, who is now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, noted that: “We understand. The renewed ambition of becoming the state governor might have pushed the professor to the extreme. But Kwarans are no fools; they know who has their real interest at heart.”
 
The APC chieftain noted further that: “They know what the government of the state has done in terms of employment and infrastructure development, in terms of giving meaning to the lives of the real downtrodden, in terms of keeping faith and promises, not just in the last two and a half years, but since 2003 when the current political leadership of the state started the journey of transformation, notwithstanding the very challenging financial resource allocation to the state.
 
“We invite him to check the state budget for 2014 and see the projections for employment and social development. And by the grace of God and the excellent leadership we have in the state, we shall fulfil every term of the projections.”
 
He, however, said: “We are not done yet with working on Kwara State. When we are through, he can come to test his ambition. We shall continue to work with progressive minds across the length and breadth of the nation because our dream for Nigeria is of a land where each of us, the Professor inclusive, would be proud of our leaders, where we would all know that those managing the affairs of our land are truly capable and faithful to their oath of office. That is the stand of the progressive governors; that is the stand of APC; that is the dream of every patriotic Nigerian. APC is the party of the progressives. There is no gain playing with a dead party, the PDP. In Kwara state, PDP is dead. No amount of lies and twist of language can change the reality.”

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Edo PDP, State Govt Disagree on Debt Profile

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Read Time:2 Minute, 41 Second
Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the state government yesterday disagreed over the debt profile of the state, the number of teachers recently sacked by the government and the status of Daniel Oikhena, who few months ago hid in the tyre compartment of an Arik Air plane to Lagos.
 
Speaking with journalists in Benin City, the state chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, alleged that Governor Adams Oshiomhole had failed to keep to the promises he made to the people of the state, including the one made to Oikhena, and her mother.
 
"Government did not fulfill the promise made to the family. People who wanted to help them also stopped because they assumed they were being looked after by government, when it is not true. We also gathered that the mother is now terribly sick," he said.
 
He stated that the state government had repeatedly denied that the state was not indebted but surprisingly set aside N20 billion in the 2014 budget for debt servicing.
 
He, therefore, challenged the state government to "as a matter of urgency declare the debt profile of the state so that the citizens will know what they are in for."
 
Orbih also described as "tissues of lies" the sack of 836 teachers, saying "the state government is playing politics with the figure as not less than 3,000 teachers were relieved of their jobs without plans to recruit new ones and at a time when the schools are seriously under-staffed."
 
In his reaction, however, Special Adviser (Media) to Oshiomhole, Kassim Afegbua, noted that the state government had never denied that it was owing.
“There is no government all over the world that is self-sustaining without having recourses to certain borrowings to meet up its statutory obligation. What is bad in borrowing is borrowing without using it to do that which the borrowed fund is meant for. Since this government came on stream five years ago, we have to pay part of the inherited debt from the PDP government when they presided over the collective patrimony of Edo State," he said.
 
We took a bond specifically meant for the Benin water storm project, which is still ongoing. As we speak, Edo State debt stands between N11 billion and N12 billion because on a monthly basis, there is certain amount of money taken from our IGR to service that debt. We thought the PDP will be man enough to raise queries about PDP states, Bayelsa State has eight local governments with a debt profile of N65billion they should go the Debt Management Office to check their records.”
 
On the stowaway boy, he said the boy like several others on scholarship is in the boarding house so “how will you say he has been abandoned?”
 
“We said we sacked 836, we didn’t take this decision by waking up in the morning after nightmare, we took this decision as the outcome of the holistic evaluation we did in respect to teachers’ recruitment, teachers population and teachers’ competence and teachers’ qualification,” Afegbua said.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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‘More PDP Senators, Reps Members Will Defect to APC by January 2014’

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Read Time:1 Minute, 29 Second
There are indications that members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Senate and House of Representatives are set to defect to All Progressives Congress (APC) by January 2014.
 
A former House of Representatives member from Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Federal Constituency in Bauchi State, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who is one of the 37 PDP lawmakers who recently defected to the APC, said this Monday in Bauchi during the inauguration of the interim state executives of the APC.
 
Dogara who noted that their defection was not due to the internal crises they face in the ruling party but maladministration of the nation for 15 years, said more PDP National Assembly members from the state and other parts of the country had concluded plans to join APC in January 2014.
 
He disclosed that they, the lawmakers, had for long been disturbed by the mismanagement and poor performance of the PDP but could not move out due to lack of a viable opposition adding that the formation of the APC was good for Nigeria because it has progressive politicians whose missions are to transform the country.
 
The legislator therefore urged both the founding and decamping members of the APC in the country to shun previous differences and work spiritedly towards the victory of the party, saying saboteurs might be sponsored by the PDP to destabilise the opposition who are now seen as their greatest threat in 2015.
 
The interim state executives of the APC who were appointed by the harmonisation committee are Senator Muhammed A. Muhammed as Chairman; Dr Abdullahi Dabo as Secretary-General; Alhaji Tata Umar as Treasurer; Alhaji Ali Sa’idu as Organisation Secretary, just as Alhaji Bappha Tafida Misau was nominated as the Public Relations Officer (PRO).
 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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No Group Owns APC in Sokoto, Says Chieftain

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Read Time:2 Minute, 6 Second
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Boza Sabon-Birni, Monday said all members of the party were equal and that no individual or group could claim ownership of the party in the state.
 
Sabon-Birni, who is a former state executive member of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party ( ANPP), was reacting to the recent claims of "ownership" of the party by the leadership and followership of the legacy parties of CPC, ANPP, ACN that merged to form the APC in Sokoto.
 
The leadership of the legacy parties had recently asserted that they did not know or recognise any person other than the former Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, as the leader of the party in the state.
 
Speaking with journalists in Sokoto, Sabon-Birni maintained that all members of the party were equal and should only pre-occupy themselves with building a stronger, united and formidable APC in the state rather than undue struggle for supremacy.
 
According to him, all the members were equal now and nobody could claim to have owned the APC, in any state or at the national level.
 
"As you are aware, all the former members of the five legacy parties which merged and formed the APC, are equal stakeholders. The defunct parties were APC, DPP, APGA, ANPP and ACN and are all now history," he said.
Sabon-Birni stated that all the members of the party should dissipate their energy on how to salvage the nation from its present state rather than undue squabble among them.
 
He noted that the acrimony in the state chapter of the party was retrogressive, as it was stunting its development.
 
"The acrimony in Sokoto State is being fuelled by a negligible section of the defunct ANPP and they should sheath their swords with a view to building a stronger opposition party," he added.
 
"We are in this struggle to salvage the North and Nigeria, and we should do it with absolute caution, spirit of patriotism and with unity of purpose," he added.
 
He reaffirmed the commitment and loyalty to the party's national leadership and also to Governor Aliyu Wamakko as the leader of the APC in the state.
 
The APC chieftain therefore, cautioned the members of the party nation-wide, against the recurring bickering for positions, stressing the need for unity of purpose in order to achieve the desired targets.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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