We deliver your news brief for Tuesday, October 21, 2014.
Some loyalists of a former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, have asked a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, to withdraw from the presidential race and support the aspiration of Mr. Buhari.
The call came on the same day a renowned Islamic Cleric, Sheik Ahmed Gumi, asked the former head of state not to contest the February 2015 presidential election.
Mr. Gumi said age was not on Mr. Buhari’s side and that other politicians were only capitalizing on his popularity to ride to power.
Both Messrs. Buhari and Atiku are currently seeking the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to run in the February 2015 presidential election.
A former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, on Tuesday described himself as the best candidate to succeed Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan come May 29, 2015.
Orubebe said this after picking his governorship nomination form at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party.
According to him, his experience in public service and his commitment to the cause of the people, places him head above shoulders over other constants.
A former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, on Tuesday said the Peoples Democratic Party has reunited and would win the governorship election in 2015, to complete the road construction work being executed currently by the Senator Ibikunle Amosun administration.
He said this at the reunification rally tagged ‘OGD returns’ held at the PDP secretariat, Abeokuta.
Daniel said the party lost the 2011 governorship election due to the internal wrangling, which led to the formation of the Peoples Party of Nigeria.
He said, “After we lost the 2011 governorship election, people appealed to us to settle our differences and re-unite. We thank God today we have reconcile our differences.
President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said state governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party would continue to dictate what happened in the party until its delegates pattern was changed.
The President spoke during a stakeholders interactive session at the Jigawa State Government House shortly after inaugurating the Dutse International Airport.
He explained that with the party’s current delegates pattern for national elections, any governor that knows his onions should be able to control 70 per cent of the delegates from his state.
A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nasir El-Rufai, has said he joined the governorship race in his home state, Kaduna, because of the level of decay there.
In a statement on Monday, Mr. El-Rufai, who is running on the platform of the All Progressive Congress, APC, lamented that the state, which used to be a point of reference, was now lagging behind other states, including those recently created.
“Our state, Kaduna, is now fragmented across ethnic and religious lines,” he said.
“Without federal allocations, the state cannot survive. Our renowned educational institutions are decaying, while unemployment and youth restiveness are visible. Trust in government is low and the essentials needed to stimulate socio-economic development are most lacking.”
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