His defection a scratch on the surface

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Andoni, home town of Rivers State Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru, has described his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a mere scratch on the surface of the party’s towering popularity in the state.

Speaking to reporters in Port Harcourt, a leader of the party in Andoni Local Government, Hon Esuku Esuku, described Ikuru as an appendage of the PDP National Organising Secretary, Prince Uchewaju Secondus.

Esuku said Ikuru’s defection was long expected after he failed to secure the governorship ticket on the platform of the APC.

Esuku said: “This is the first time that election results will be determined by actual followership as the electorate will be expected to cast their votes, using their PVC under the card reader system.”

Esuku believed that Ikuru’s defection was to save him from the embarrassment he and Secondus would receive on election day since their plan to secure the APC governorship ticket did not materialise.

The APC leader urged party faithful to ignore Ikuru and ensure victory for APC’s presidential candidate Gen. Mohammadu Buhari on Saturday and Peterside on April 11.

Thugs attack APC’s rally in Lagos

Some suspected thugs believed to be sympathisers of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday shot at All Progressives Congress (APC) members who were campaigning at Obalende in Lagos.

Five people were injured –one of them critically – after the shooting.

An eyewitness said but for the intervention of soldiers from Dodan Barracks, the injured would have been more and that people would have been killed immediately. Four people – Babangida Bello shot in the leg; Gambo Idi shot close to the eye; Ibrahim Musa and Jubril Ishaku whose  ankles were shattered – were last night being treated at the Island Maternity Hospital (IMH), Lagos.

The fifth person, whose injury is critical, was referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi Araba for further care.

According to an eye witness, the thugs chased after APC members who began their rally close to the State House en-route Obalende. But as the thugs advanced behind them, they scurried into Dodan Barracks and Ikoyi Cemetery for safety.

Some of those shot were not even part of the rally.

Recounting his ordeal, Bello, who resides at 32 Ajeniya Street, said: “I was sitting in from of the mosque when I saw the thugs. They were many and armed with guns and machetes. They approached me without saying a word and shot me in the chest and leg. They also shot some other people.”

Bello, who was writhing in pain, said some people also sustained minor injuries while running from the attackers.

APC member, Alhaja Rikiya Jubril, said their rally was peaceful and orderly until they approached Obalende via Ajeniya and Suya Junction when news reached them that some thugs were advancing to the area to unleash terror.

APC: Jonathan’s men plan to make elections in Southwest inconclusive

Lai Mohammed

Elections are likely to be inconclusive in the Southwest, the All Progressives Congress (APC) warned yesterday.

The party spoke of a plan by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan’s supporters to make Saturday’s  elections inconclusive, having realised that they cannot deliver the zone to the PDP as they have promised.

In a statement issued yesterday in Lagos by the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the plot was conceived at a meeting held in the Ondo State Government House on March 13.

The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) is said to be part of the plot in which youths have been armed with guns and other weapons. The youths, said APC, will be given military and police uniforms, “which we

earlier said were being sewn in the capital of a state in the Southwest.”

The APC said the highly-disruptive and armed protest by the OPC in Lagos on March 16 was a dress rehearsal for the plan to be executed across the states in the Southwest.

The party also said the PDP had compiled for the Police anti-cult squad names of APC youths in all the Wards in Ondo State so they can be arrested and locked up before, during and after the elections, to give the PDP and its cohorts the free rein to carry out their nefarious activities.

‘’As a matter of fact, funds have been provided to the Police Anti-Cult Squad to expand its detention facility, and work is going on at the facility as we write. The reason for these actions is that, despite the massive infusion of illicit funds to bribe individuals and groups in the Southwest, the PDP and its agents in the region have realised that their strategy has backfired and even given the people more impetus to vote against the ruling party,’’ it said.

APC called on the security agencies, especially the police and the State Security Service, to shun partisanship in carrying out their assigned responsibilities to prevent any individual or group from disrupting the elections, irrespective of their political leanings.

‘’Let’s be clear: In the event that the security agencies fail to carry out their duties, we will hold them, as well as those behind the plot to disrupt the elections, totally responsible for any disruption in the polls. They will also be held responsible for any act of violence or intimidation against the opposition,’’ the party warned.

It appealed to its members and supporters across the Southwest to be calm but vigilant, and to document all actions aimed at harassing and intimidating them, as well as all acts of violence and all moves to disrupt the polls in the geo-political zone.

‘’The forthcoming elections are being closely watched within and outside Nigeria. In other words, the eyes of the world are on our country. Therefore, no one who engages in violence, rigging or intimidation of voters, to scare them away from the polling booths, will go scot-free, irrespective of his status,’’ the APC said.

Amaechi’s deputy Ikuru defects to PDP

Rivers State Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ikuru declared his defection yesterday, six days to the general elections.

In a statement titled “A call on the conscience of the people of Rivers State”, the deputy governor said: “Ever since, as the true nature and motives of APC are unveiled, I have continued to twist and turn in extreme mental and emotional agony.

“The more I struggle to belong, the more the Rivers man in me rejects the APC.”

He described the APC as a party of rebels, insurgents and anarchists.

Ikuru said his decision was centred on the fact that he would not want to be listed as part of a generation that would witch hunt and hound down the very first ever President from the region, apparently referring to the incumbent President seeking re-election in the presidential election that will hold on March 28.

“I wash my hands of this treachery and in the light of the above, I wish to urge all my supporters, the good people of Rivers State to join hands with other well-meaning Nigerians to massively vote for President Goodluck Jonathan and the Transformation Agenda that has brought so much relief and succour to the greatest number of Nigerians.

Dangote raises refinery’s capacity to 650,000bpd

AFRICA’S richest man and President of Dangote Group Aliko Dangote has announced that he is increasing his refinery’s capacity to 650, 000 barrels per day.

The move, according to petroleum industry analysts,  will see Nigeria listed as having the largest petroleum refinery in the world.

Dangote said that though the initial plan was to have 450,000 bpd refining capacity, but that he has since gone back to the drawing board to have a bigger plant because he believes that Nigeria as a leading producer of crude oil should also be credited with local refining capacity.

Describing the situation where Nigeria produces crude, but goes abroad to buy refined products as unacceptable, Dangote, who spoke through his Group Executive Director, Devakumar Edwin, said Dangote refinery was ready to reverse the trend just as it had successfully done in other sectors like sugar and cement.

His clarification came as the company’s Executive Director in charge of Stakeholders Management and Corporate Corporation, Manure Ahmed,  told stakeholders in South Africa that the refinery would run full swing as from 2017.

Edwin, who spoke while receiving on behalf of Dangote, a group of oil and gas stakeholders who paid him a visit in Lagos at the weekend, also said the petrochemicals, which is being developed alongside the refinery, also had its capacity increased from 750,000 to 3.6 million.

“The entire petrochemical industry is history. Nobody has started with a 3.6 million tonnes capacity anywhere in the world. We are doing two million tonnes of polypropylene and 1.6 tonnes of polythene, which is approximately 3.6 million tones, which is a huge petrochemical complex.

“The consumption of petrochemical products in Nigeria and within Saharan Africa is quite limited today. But in the future, there will be growth. if the cement industry has not developed like this today, if we were still living with a 3.4 million tonnes per annum capacity, today we would have imported about 16 million tonnes of cement and with that, you can imagine if we had imported this, it would have cost the country $2 billion of foreign exchange.

“So that much of foreign exchange has been saved by the country and we can imagine how much of billions of dollars the country is spending in importation of products. That much of enormous foreign exchange has been conserved and the petrochemical products are exported, it will yield a huge amount of foreign exchange for the country even for us today, we are so happy and relieved that our external investment in cement has started to yield returns this year we will be able to bring back foreign exchange in terms of our earnings from these investments.”

He also dismissed fears that change in government policy could affect the business saying “we have witnessed so many political upheavals and never had any negative impacts on our business as such because our business is not dependent on any government contracts or any linkage to the government. Fortunately, for the businesses we are in and the way we carry out risk analysis, we go through a rigorous analysis before we carry out any investment. One of the reasons why we carry out this very rigorous risk analysis is because most of the investments comes from president’s pocket and  because he makes massive investment and obviously, he will not want his investments to be wiped out because of one mistake.”

President mounts pressure on North’s leaders, Emirs

President Goodluck Jonathan has been paying nocturnal visits to the North’s leaders, Emirs and groups ahead of Saturday’s election.

Dr. Jonathan’s biggest challenger, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is from the North.

The President and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are worried about their prospects in Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Adamawa, Kebbi, Niger, Bauchi, Kano, Borno, Yobe, Kwara, Zamfara and others.

This, said a source, is why the President has turned to the Southwest as the “real battleground”.

Jonathan has visited more than 50 key leaders in the North, urging them for support  to sway votes in his favour.

A top source said: “Apart from the few visits captured by the media, the President has in the last six weeks met with more than 50 key Northern leaders, Emirs and groups to come to his rescue. His message has been reassuring that he will not disappoint the North.

“Jonathan made most of the trips nocturnal to protect the image of the leaders and Emirs, who are described as match-makers in the region.

“Some of the leaders Jonathan has lobbied are ex-President Ibrahim Babangida; ex-Minister of Defence Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma;  former Minister of Defence Mallam Adamu Ciroma; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Amb. Maiatama Sule; and Alh. Tanko Yakasai, among others.

“He believes these leaders and Emirs can turn the table against Gen. Muhammadu Buhari,” the source said, adding:

Polls: Panic as Jonathan deploys troops in states

President Goodluck Jonathan may have ordered the deployment of soldiers in some states  – in defiance of court verdicts that the military has no role in elections.

There was panic in Kwara State at the weekend as residents saw troops in the streets.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed issued a statement, calling for calm.

The military said troops were being deployed to maintain the peace before, during and after Saturday’s elections.

The spokesman of the Army’s 22 Armoured Brigade, Sobi,  Lt. Weri Finikumor, said 300 troops were deployed in Ilorin and the other local government areas.

Lt.Finikumor added that the soldiers would maintain security and not meddle in the conduct of the presidential election.

He added that the soldiers would stand 300 meters away from the polling booths and would not be involved in anything pertaining to electoral materials, including ballot papers and boxes.

Lt. Finikumor said the police would provide security around the polling units, adding that soldiers would intervene on invitation of the police if there is a major security threat which the police cannot handle.

The military’s role in the polls has been controversial. While the military high command said the president, who is the Commander-in-Chief could deploy troops, the opposition parties have warned against the deployment of troops for the polls, fearing they could be used to intimidate voters and supporters of the opposition.