Tinubu ’ s visit not political , says Afenifere

PETER DADA

The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation , Afenifere , has explained that the visit of the national Leader of the All Progressives Congress , Asiwaju bola Tinubu to the leadership of the group last week was a private one which had nothing to do with politics .

The group also said it was not aware of any plan by the former Lagos State governor to contest the 2019 presidential election .

Tinubu had , on Wednesday last week , visited the group at the residence of its leader , Pa reuben Fasoranti , in Akure , the ondo State capital , after which he spoke with journalists .

He specifically noted that the party had no plan to issue any automatic ticket to buhari for the purpose of making him the sole candidate of the APC in the 2019 presidential election .

There were insinuations that Tinubu ’ s visit might not be unconnected with the political aspiration the APC leader ahead of the 2019 general election but the Afenifere told SUNDAY PUNCH that the visit was not political .

Speaking with our correspondent in Akure on Saturday , the Secretary- General of the group , Chief Sehinde Arogbofa , said the visit of Tinubu was private and that he did not discuss any political issue with the leaders of the pan-Yoruba group .

Arogbofa also noted that the group was not aware whether Tinubu had any presidential ambition in 2019 or not . he insisted that the closed-door meeting had nothing to do with politics . he said , “ People can give any interpretation to the visit . but from the Afenifere ’ s point of view , we are not aware of his ( Tinubu ) political ambition and his visit was not political .

“ he came on a private visit and sought to be reunited with his socio-political source , which is Afenifere .

“ In the past 15 years , he has not been very close to us and if for this time , he felt it , as a real Yoruba man , to pay homage to the leader of Afenifere , I think it is commendable . So his visit has nothing to do with politics . It was purely private and nothing more .” november 26 , 2017

POLITICS

• L-R : Director , Africa Franchise Centre , Mr . Emma Esinnah ; Commercial Attaché , US Commercial Service in Nigeria , Ms . Jennifer Woods ; Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Overseas Affairs and Investment , Prof . Ademola Abass ; Chairman , Centre for Values in Leadership , Prof . Pat Utomi ; and Managing Director , EatNGo Nigeria Limited , Mr . Antoine

Zammarieh , during the inauguration of Africa Franchise Centre in Lagos … on Wednesday . Photo : Stanley Ogidi

GODWIN ISENYO

The Kaduna electricity Distribution Company had claimed that some youths vandalised a power installation in the area .

Ungwan-Kanawa is a hausa settlement within the Kaduna metropolis , which depicts poverty , despite being surrounded by structures inhabited by influential nigerians .

Specifically , the community is surrounded by the nigerian Defence Academy , the official residence of the late Premier of the region , Sir Ahmadu bello , the Sardauna of Sokoto and one of the homes of the

ECONOmY

POWER

Sultan of Sokoto , Alhaji Sa ’ ad Abubakar III .

The popular Sultan bello mosque , which is located in the heart of Kaduna city , is directly opposite the slum .

“ We ’ ve been in total darkness for more than three weeks now and there is no hope that we can enjoy electricity before Christmas ,” a resident , Abubakar Aliyu , told our correspondent who visited the area on Friday .

Also , emmanuel Adeyi , who has lived in the community for more than 30 years , lamented during an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH that criminals were currently taking advantage of the situation to rob unsuspecting residents . our correspondent gathered that trouble started early in the month when there was power outage in the area which the residents thought was the usual power interruption .

They were , however , wrong because the transformer , mounted along the highbrow rabah road , which used to service the area and other adjourning areas , had got burnt . our correspondent , however , learnt that other highbrow areas like the nigerian Air Force Club , the nigerian Defence Academy ’ s officers ’ mess , the Jigawa Governors ’ Lodge and the Sultan bello mosque , which also derived their power supply from the damaged facility , had since been connected to another transformer by the KeDC .

A source within the Ungwan-Kanawa community , who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter , told

FRIDAY OLOKOR

The President said apart from saving $ 500m in the Sovereign Wealth Fund and investing another $ 500m in the SWF , the country ’ s external reserve presently stands at $ 35bn , the highest in the past four years .

According to him , the Federal Government

JOHN ALECHENU , LEKE BAIYEWU and HINDI LIVINUS

former vice-President , Atiku Abubakar , may return to the Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday ( today ), according to one of his associates , mr . Ahmed Lawan .

Lawan , who is the organising Secretary of the

All Progressives Congress in Adamawa State , told one of our correspondents on Saturday that Atiku would formally register as a member of the PDP at his Jada ward 11 , in Yola , the state capital . he said Atiku ’ s return to his former party was based on the

participants in the 2017 Senior executive Course 39 of the national Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru . he said , “ For the first time in five years , we saved $ 500m , and invested another $ 500m in the Sovereign Wealth Fund . Today , our external reserves stand at $ 35bn , the highest in the past four years . Today , we can see light at the end of the tunnel ; darkness is giving way to light .” motivation he received from the PDP leadership towards the realisation of his ambition to contest the 2019 presidential election .

Lawan , however , warned , Atiku to have a rethink of his action because his resignation might mark the end of his political career . he said , “ he ( Atiku ) told

he added that the Presidency stopped the siphoning of funds through ghost workers by insisting that all ministries , Departments and Agencies must be on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System in all tiers of government and mandated the use of bank Verification Numbers . he said over 461 federal mDAs had been captured on the system thus far , with the objective of being able to enroll all of them . the whole world that he was in the APC to stay , and that even if anything would make him to leave the APC , he would retire from politics . he noted that Atiku did not see the possibility of defeating President muhammadu buhari in the primary of the APC . he said , “ he is making a grave mistake because buhari

our correspondent that the people were allegedly asked to pay n1.2m by some KeDC officials to replace the burnt transformer .

The source alleged that an engineer at KeDC accused the youth of the area of setting the transformer ablaze .

It was also gathered that when the youth led a delegation to the corporate head office of the KeDC to complain , the same engineer told the youth that the area was not generating enough funds for the company and would not enjoy power supply until the n1.2m was made available to purchase a new transformer for the area .

The source added that the distribution manager said the KeDC management agreed to connect the community to a neighbouring Ungwan- Shanu community with 11,000 units of electricity but that the residents rejected the offer on the grounds that the transformer there did not have the required capacity . but Adeyi , a physicallychallenged father of two , pleaded with the Kaduna State Government and well-meaning nigerians to intervene by prevailing on the management of the KeDC to restore light to the area .

The head , Corporate Communication of KeDC , Abdulazeez Abdullahi , when contacted on the telephone , said he was not aware of the issue and promised to call back . he had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report .

has yet to make any statement as to whether he will contest the 2019 presidential election or not . So , why is he in a haste ?”

Also , another associate of the former vice-president , mr . Umar Ardo , who is a member of the PDP in the state , also confirmed to one of our correspondents that Atiku had made up his mind to join the PDP . he accused Atiku of allegedly conniving with the national leadership of the PDP to hijack the party in the state . he said , “ Atiku knows that the real Adamawa PDP is not with him ; that is why he connived with Ahmed Markafi ( the PDP national Caretaker Committee chairman ) to dissolve the exco and set up a new caretaker committee .” meanwhile , the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Media Office , Mr . Paul Ibe , dismissed the report , that Atiku will return to the PDP on Sunday . he , however , said the former vice-president was currently engaged in “ a high level discussion that would enable him to return to the PDP .” he said , “ What I know is that there are ongoing discussions for him ( Atiku ) to return to the PDP . It is something that a timeline cannot be attached to . but I know that there are engagements in that direction .”

Also , Senator rafiu Ibrahim ( APC , Kwara South ), has faulted the Governor of Kaduna State , mallam nasir el-rufai , for downplaying Atiku ’ s exit from the ruling party . he described the resignation as a major threat to the APC in the 2019 presidential election .

“ my opinion is , let us be strategic in the APC . We should not take it from the angle of the Governor of Kaduna State who said he ( Atiku ) is a serial defector . “ “ This is how the problem with the PDP started . And whether you like it or not , Alhaji Atiku Abubakar , the Waziri of Adamawa , is not somebody you can take for granted .”

... I won ’ t follow

Atiku to PDP – Adamawa gov

The governor spoke through his Commissioner for Information , Ahmad Sajo , in a telephone interview on Saturday .

Sajo was reacting to specific question about whether or not the governor was planning to dump the APC as Atiku did on Friday . he said , “ our governor has no plan to leave the APC . It has a lot of respect for the former vice-president but he is not leaving the APC .

“ he was elected on the platform of the APC and he is focused on delivering on the mandate given to him on the party ’ s platform .”