The ruling All Progressives Congress has said it will abide by its constitution to resolve the controversy over whether or not President Muhammadu Buhari will be given an automatic ticket to contest the 2019 presidential election.

Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar, made this known while speaking to reporters in Abuja, after an expanded meeting of the party’s National Working Committee with state governors and principal officers of the National Assembly, at the party’s National Secretariat, on Wednesday.

Abubakar, who was flanked by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, and the Senate Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawan, was asked whether the party’s presidential ticket was open to all or restricted to the President.

He said, “This meeting has not deliberated on that but the APC has a constitution and that is one of the items that was discussed – the amendment to the constitution of the APC in order to faithfully hold the convention in line with democratic principles, and we will abide by the provisions of our constitution.”

Article 20 (iii) of the APC Constitution 2014 stipulates that “nomination of candidates for (f) President shall be through direct or indirect primary election to be conducted at the appropriate level.”

Abubakar also faulted the reports that the President indicted governors for failing to meet their financial obligations to civil servants and pensioners.

He said, “The President is concerned about the plight of the downtrodden and when you sit with him, he always talk about that. He did not direct any accusation at the governors because the governors have actually utilised the Federal Government’s intervention for the payment of the salary.

“In Bauchi, I do not owe a dime in salary and pension. We are not begging for support but asking that what is due to us should be paid to us.”

“You will recall what was canvassed in the media was that President Muhammadu Buhari had asked the World Bank to focus their attention on the North.

“The issue came up for discussion at the meeting and they threw their weight behind Mr. President. And we would like to clarify in addition to all that had been said that the import of Mr. President’s message to the World Bank was in recognition of the particular devastation that Boko Haram has caused in the North.

“Therefore, when the President asked the World Bank to focus its attention on the North, he had in mind, the necessary reconstruction that need to happen in that part of the country, especially in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states that have suffered as a result of the Boko Haram activities.

“It was not therefore a statement intended to bifurcate any part of the country and show preference for any part of the country against the other.

“So, the APC throws its weight completely behind the President’s position and we believe that as long as the North-East remains and continues to represent a dark spot in the human development indices for Nigeria, there is a need to direct special attention to that particular region of the country.”

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has told former President Olusegun Obasanjo that it will not die because of his absence.

The party said it will not force former Obasanjo, a former leader of the party, to return as its member.

It said it would respect the decision of the former President, but added that whether he returned or not, it would stand tall.

The former President had earlier in the week, vowed never to return to the party, saying he would rather remain a statesman, working for the interest of the nation.

He addressed newsmen after a closed door meeting with the National Caretaker Chairman of the party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, Abeokuta.

The spokesperson for the PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, reacting, said Obasanjo had earlier said that he would not return to the party, adding that as an individual, the party would respect his views.

He said, “He has said it before ( that he won’t return to the party ). We are not going to force him. No individual is bigger than the party.

“Obasanjo has the right to hold his opinion. But the PDP will not die, whether he joins us or not.

“We respect his opinion. There’s nothing to say more than that . He is an individual and we respect him.”

The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, on Monday described the state’s striking workers as political servants.

Bello spoke with State House correspondents after a meeting he held with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The governor said, “Those workers that are on strike are political civil servants; real civil servants are coming to work.

“We are trying our best to keep up with the payment of salaries. There is no denying the fact that the economy is biting hard everywhere. You will recall that I met four months’ salary backlog; I cleared it and today we are keeping up to date.

“We owe August and September as we speak. We are up to date in terms of salaries and those that come to work, we shall pay them and those that don’t come to work, the ‘no work, no pay’ rule shall surely apply.”

Bello said his state was politically stable except for a few “Diaspora politicians,” who he said were making noise in the media.

He said while he could not stop them from making noise whenever they wanted to, the reality was that Kogi State was very stable.

He also said his administration was doing its best in tackling security challenges in the state.

The governor said, “On the scale of one to 10, we are 70 per cent. We are doing very well even though the challenges are still there.

“Security is not what you tackle once and for all, you have to continue to do your best.

“The criminals, kidnappers, armed robbers, and hoodlums will always devise various tactics, they may change styles. We have to change along with them and be ahead of them at any point in time in order to keep Kogi State secure and Kogi is currently secure.”

He urged the people of his state to continue to be patient with his government.

“Things are hard generally and we are trying our best and that is why we are transparent in everything that we do.

“I am sure you are aware of the periodic publishing of our accounts. Very soon, we are going to publish all the salaries that we have paid to workers since inception in the newspapers for people to see them.”

Some South-West chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party have begun moves to agree on a candidate for the national chairmanship position of the party for the region ahead of its national convention in December.

At a meeting convened by the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, in Lagos on Monday night, the party chieftains agreed to meet again to present a common front at the convention.

Apart from Fayose, those present at the meeting included a former governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja; a former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George; a former Minister of Information, Chief Dapo Sarumi; a former National Vice-Chairman of the PDP (South-West), Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipupo.

Fayose said he convened the meeting to “to share aspirations with them, find a common ground and go to the convention as an indivisible and united” group.

The governor said it would be wrong for the South-West PDP to “go to the convention like people without cohesion”.

The Ekiti State governor, who had declared his intention to contest the presidential ticket of the party, said there would be subsequent meetings which would involve other key stakeholders of the party in the region to decide on a candidate among the aspirants vying for the position from the zone.

The national chairmanship position of the PDP had been zoned to the South-West but no fewer than four aspirants have mounted serious campaigns to vie for the party’s number one seat.

Those who have declared their interest in the position include George; a former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; a former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; and a former Minister of Youths, Prof. Taoreed Adedoja.

Both Daniel and Adeniran were not at the meeting, but Fayose expressed confidence that they would be at subsequent ones.

He said Daniel sent a message that he could not make it to the venue of the meeting because he was held up, adding that he believed that both the ex-govenor of Ogun State and Adeniran would also be at the next meeting.

Ladoja, who contested the 2015 governorship election in Oyo State on the platform of Accord Party, said he was officially back in the PDP.

Ladoja was governor of Oyo State while in the PDP before he defected to Accord Party.

At the meeting, the former Oyo State governor said he was still consulting people on whether to also contest the national chairmanship position of the PDP, adding that by the end of the week, his decision on the matter would be made public.

Oladipupo stated, “PDP has only one governor in the South-West in the person of Fayose. He is our rallying point and he is the leader of the party in the South-West, and more so, he is also the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.

“For this reason, he must be our rallying point to make our decision known at the national convention. We endorse his calling this meeting and many more with more stakeholders before the convention.”

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says he is ready to lay down his life if it will ensure victory for the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 general elections.

Wike said this in the latest issue of ‘The Interview,’ a monthly magazine.

The governor said one of the reasons the then President, Goodluck Jonathan, lost the presidential election was that he was surrounded by insincere people, especially ministers.

He, however, said Rivers State fought tooth and nail to ensure victory for the PDP in 2015 and 2019 would not be any different.

Wike said, “The whole thing boils down to sincerity and commitment and sincerity. We said if things would not happen, all of us would go down with it. That was the driving spirit for us and that is what we are going to repeat in 2019.

“If the Federal Government is going to kill all of us, so be it. Because we know what they have planned and their strategies and so when it is time, we will face the APC squarely in this state. Just watch.”

The governor described Jonathan as a gentleman who condoned too many things.

Wike said for instance, when Jonathan went to campaign in the North, he was stoned in a number of states but did nothing.

The governor said if he were the President, things would have been different.

He added, “God gave every leader his strength and way of doing things. You see, I will not accept that. Let the heavens fall. If Nigeria was going to end on that day, let it end. I will not take what he took. That is why I respect the man a lot. I will not take that.

“If Nigeria will come down that day, let it come down. I mean, what is it? He was President and you were throwing stones at him? No single respect for that office? And you tell me to accept it? No, I will clamp down on you.”

Wike said the fact that those who stoned Jonathan were neither arrested nor prosecuted, showed that some northern elements, including the ones in the PDP, sabotaged Jonathan’s campaign.

He wondered why a northern state which was ruled by a PDP governor would allow such a thing to happen.

The governor also said he supported what a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, did at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission when he attempted to stop the Chairman of the commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, from announcing the results of the 2015 presidential election.

Wike said Orubebe’s actions were justified since the elections were rigged.

When asked if he supported what Orubebe, he said, “I did. Of course, why not? You saw clear rigging. I don’t like a system where you see something is going wrong and you keep quiet.”

The governor, who is heading the PDP’s reconciliation committee, said his committee would do everything to attract as many political heavyweights into the party.

He said the party could even go as far as wooing a former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and a former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Wike said, “What is the crime in wooing people? Who told you that we would not woo people like Tinubu and Kwankwaso? You see, whether they will come or not is immaterial. Those that the APC wooed, did they not join the APC?

“Who told you that we would not go and woo prominent APC governors? That does not mean that they will come. All the APC leaders at the National Assembly, were they not PDP people? What is all this trouble about wooing and not wooing?”

The governor said he did not regret helping a former Borno State governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, to emerge as the PDP chairman despite the fact that it nearly led to the total collapse of the party.

He said at the time, he did not know that Sheriff was “an agent of darkness.”

Wike added, “Why should I regret? I am not a coward. I am not one of those that takes decisions and goes back to say I am not part of that decision.”

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday said he had no plan to contest the 2019 presidential election.

According to  Reuters, Osinbajo said this when he was asked at the Financial TimesAfrica Summit in London if he had considered running.

“None of that is on the cards,” the Vice-President reportedly said.

Osinbajo had earlier disowned a group known as Osinbajo Volunteers, which is campaigning for his election as President in 2019.

His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, had asked Nigerians to disregard the group, adding that Osinbajo had nothing to do with them.

The group had noted that Nigeria now “has a leader who has a clue about what to do and (how to) turn Nigeria to a beloved land of our dreams.”

It featured the activities of the Vice-President on its website, while calling on members of the public to volunteer for Osinbajo.

It however noted that it did not receive the endorsement of the Vice-President, noting that it had never met him.

The group added, “Note that Osinbajo did not endorse this volunteer group. We have never met him. We are strong believers in the fact that he is the right ruler for Nigeria and we must create a people’s volunteer base for him.”

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said that boycotting the Anambra governorship election is the only card left for its members and Biafrans living in the state to demonstrate their resolve for a referendum.

A press release by the group signed by its publicity secretary, Mr Emma Powerful stated that IPOB members in Biafraland would boycott the Anambra, November 18, 2017 gubernatorial election, describing it as the day of destiny for all lovers of freedom.

The release stated that, “Every genuine Biafran desiring of freedom for Biafra from this Islamic bondage of Hausa Fulani caliphate called Nigeria, must not only stay at home on that day, but must also make sure those around them do not vote. November 18, 2017 is a date with history.

“If we Biafrans succeed in demonstrating before international observers that we are serious about our freedom by locking down Anambra State on that day, the world will be in no doubt that Biafra is unstoppable. Our destiny is firmly in our hands.

“We must teach corrupt Igbo politicians that money cannot buy IPOB because we are special breed untainted by the corrupt tendencies of Nigerian politics. Locking down Anambra State will pave the way for IPOB to announce a date for substantive referendum later next year with or without the approval of Nigeria.”

The group said that events in Catalonia and Kurdistan “has pointed the way forward for it because it was clearly demonstrated by both nations that IPOB can call for and conduct its own referendum with or without the cooperation of Nigeria.”

It said that election boycott “is the only legitimate tool left in the hands of oppressed people to register their displeasure with the ongoing genocide, arbitrary arrests and torture across Biafraland.”

It added that the whole world was watching to see how serious the group was towards the realisation of Biafra, and that the successful boycott of the election will prove to the entire world how determined they were towards having their own nation.

“We are therefore asking every Biafran and IPOB member who believe in the supremacy of the restoration of Biafra over deceitful game of Nigerian politics to sit at home and not venture outdoor on the 18th November 2017 no matter the amount of threat.

“IPOB under the supreme command and leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is determine to show the world how serious we are towards the restoration of Biafra. Come the 18th of November, the world will know that Biafrans cannot participate in a fraudulent election organised by those that came to our land, killed us and when we complained, they tagged us terrorists.

“We must remain strong and resolute before our enemies as our leader taught us. He have come too far to allow propaganda and blackmail to derail us. As the blessed children of the Most High, it is our duty to let the world know that terrorists don’t vote,”‎ it stated.

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday said the  Anambra State  governorship poll  would hold on November 18, as scheduled.

The commission said it would not allow any postponement, adding that to do so would adversely affect the cost of prosecuting the election.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji, who stated this in a meeting with the executive members of Interparty Advisory Council  in the state, said the commission would resist any attempt to truncate the electoral process.

He said, “We want the election to hold as scheduled. We have 58 days to the election and we are on top of the preparations. There would not be any need for postponement.

“Any attempt to shift the date would be waste of resources. We need to conclude the election as scheduled so as to focus on the 2019 general elections.”

He appealed to IPAC leadership to mobilise governorship candidates of their various political parties to articulate their profiles and manifestoes to enable the commission to publish them for effective voter education.

He said, “I learnt you are organising an election debate for all the registered political parties. All these processes are important as  they would help to shift campaign from hate speeches and campaign of calumny  to issue-based electioneering.”

Responding, the IPAC chairman, Mr. Batho Igwedibia, called on INEC to make use of more of its personnel in the poll, saying that the use of  ad hoc workers had proved to be inefficient over the years.