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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar claims he did not run against his Principal Obasanjo in 2003 in order to’maintain Zoning Policy.’

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By Derrick Bangura

 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President and presidential candidate, said on Tuesday that he did not run against his principal’s re-election, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2003 because he wanted to maintain the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party’s zoning policy (PDP)

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Atiku, who spoke before the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), also stated that he refused to make Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos, his running mate in the 2007 election while still a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), because he did not want the Southeast to claim that they were being marginalised.
Atiku also said the south had ruled Nigeria more times than the north since the country returned to democracy. The former Vice President was probably referring to eight years each for former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Muhammadu Buhari respectively; five years for former President Goodluck Jonathan and three years for late former president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

But analysts have drawn the attention of the former vice president to the fact that the argument for power shift by those from Southern Nigeria was firstly, based on the rotation principle that power must go between North and South and that one region cannot have it for 16 years continuously because the other region would be marginalised. Secondly, on balance, the fact is that the North has had more leaders since 1960 than the South.

However, continuing, Atiku told the BoT members that: “Many of you were members of our government, when all the PDP governors came in 2003 and said I should run and I say no. We have a creed that power should remain in the Southwest, why should I?

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“Some of those governors then that supported me, some of them went to jail, some of them were kicked out of their offices; we made sure that we kept the policy.

“So, therefore, you cannot come and try to imply that the PDP has not been following the zoning policy. The many years of PDP government eight years and six years all of them were from the south. So, we should not be stampeded by the opposition party. They have a moral obligation which is inescapable.”Atiku told the BoT members.

On the 2007 issue, he said, rather than pick Tinubu, he picked Senator Ben Obi, to ensure a sense of belonging and inclusiveness for the southeast.

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It was because of this, he also claimed to have chosen a former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, in 2019, when they ran on the PDP platform.

His words: “When I joined the CAN, which my friend Bola set up, he gave me a set of condition for giving me the ticket; that I should make him vice president. I said no, I’m not going to make you Vice President, instead, I took Senator Ben Obi.

“When I got the ticket again to run, I took another Obi coincidentally. So, there is absolutely no reason why they should say that there is deliberate attempts to exclude the South East in political participation or power sharing.

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“So, I thought I should disabuse your mind and ,of course, as an enlightened political class, I don’t think that for me, as far as this party is concerned, as far as we’re concerned, I don’t think there’s any deliberate policy to exclude anybody in this country.

“Yes, people have not stopped talking about power rotation and zoning, or whatever it is. For sure, in the party, we invented and formulated this zoning policy simply, because we wanted every part of this country to have a sense of belonging and I personally have paid my dues on the issue of zoning.”

On why the PDP should give him another chance, Atiku said, “Now, I wish to call on you to please give me another opportunity to advance all these ideas of our party, well-beautiful ideas, so that we will come further to consolidate democracy, unity and development for our country.

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“What I’m saying is based on facts. Take any aspect of our growth whether, it is economy, whether it is healthcare, whether it is agriculture, whether it is education, the landmark achievements we made in 1999 to 2007, have not been matched by any subsequent administration.

“We are now at a crucial moment in this country. Many of you here, it is either we retire together or we move on together. Somebody said we recorded 12 million votes during the last election. Those are not only my votes, those were our votes. In achieving or recording those 11 million votes, it was all of us and I believe if we work together again, we can surpass those votes.

“As one of the speakers said, I am worried and you should be worried too that, if we do not win, it means we will be in opposition again for the next eight years. By the next eight years, I don’t know how many of you would be left in politics and it may even ultimately lead to the death of the party, because people gravitate, particularly in developing countries, towards governments.

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“Ordinary people naturally gravitate towards government. So, this is a very, very crucial and historical moment in history. For our survival, I want you to think about it,” he said, explaining why he should be given the ticket.

On his vision, Atiku explained that, “My vision is building bridges across the country. Please join me in building bridges across this country so that every part of this country will have a sense of belonging.

 

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Headlines

NNPC Foundation Trains Over 3,000 Southwest Farmers in Climate-Smart Agriculture

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In a bid to promote food security and sustainable agricultural practices, the NNPC Foundation has successfully trained more than 3,000 farmers in the South-West geopolitical zone on climate-smart and modern farming techniques.

The training, which concluded on Friday in Ikorodu, Lagos, marked the end of the Southwest phase of the foundation’s pilot programme aimed at empowering local farmers and boosting agro-productivity.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Managing Director of the NNPC Foundation, Mrs. Emmanuella Arukwe, described the initiative as a milestone in the lives of thousands of farmers.

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“Today marks the formal conclusion of the first phase of a national journey that speaks to resilience, food security, and economic empowerment,” Arukwe said.
“What began as a bold decision to support small holder farmers has translated into tangible action across three geopolitical zones (South-East, South-South, and South-West) in Southern Nigeria.”

She disclosed that a total of 3,860 vulnerable farmers across 10 locations in the three regions were trained in sustainable farming practices that improve productivity and market access.

“This achievement is not just a number, but a milestone in the lives of real people and real communities. We were able to strengthen farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change,” she added.
“Through the training, we were able to improve access to markets, promote inclusive agriculture and especially gender representation. We also trained them on enhancing food production through sustainable techniques.”

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Arukwe noted that the programme would now move to the North-West, North-Central, and North-East zones as part of its next phase, saying the foundation is committed to supporting livelihoods nationwide.

“This is only Phase One. We will now turn our focus to the North-West, North-Central, and North-East zones. What we have achieved in the South will inform and strengthen our next steps,” she said.
“The NNPC Foundation will continue this mission, to support livelihoods, build resilience, and empower the hands that feed our families and beyond.
We have decided that most times you get a lot of requests from people asking us to give them palliatives and all kinds of things to help them.
But we think it is much better to teach people to fish than just give them fish so they can continue,” Arukwe explained.

Chairman of Ikorodu Local Government, Mr. Wasiu Adesina, while commending the initiative, urged the beneficiaries to apply the knowledge gained to boost productivity and profitability.

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“As we all know, agriculture is the bedrock of any nation. Without agriculture, there will not be a nation, because there will be no food to eat,” Adesina stated.
“It is the farmers that produce our food, and it is important that we train our farmers with new techniques in agriculture, and that is exactly what the NNPC Foundation is doing.

“To the farmers, you have to take advantage of this training and face the farming squarely. In some great countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, farmers are the most richest people in those countries.

“This is because they make a lot of money from farming. We need to inculcate that habit in Nigeria and develop ideas in farming. Even after my tenure, I am going back to farming, so, maybe I will ask the NNPC Foundation to train me so that I also join you to be a farmer.”

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He appealed to the foundation to provide further empowerment for the trained farmers to help them kickstart their agricultural ventures.

“If the farmers have land for farming, I believe the foundation will provide financial aid to keep their farms running,” Adesina added.

Also speaking at the event, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, represented by the Director of Fisheries, Mrs. Osunkoya Daisi, lauded the Foundation’s efforts in bolstering the state’s food security.

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“On behalf of the Lagos State Government, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to NNPC Foundation for training our farmers and for training all the farmers all over the country,” she said.
“Definitely, the training will help improve food production. We can see the impact of climate change effects in agriculture. I am sure farmers have been equipped with climate-smart agriculture techniques to improve production.”

The NNPC Foundation Ltd/Gte is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited. It was incorporated in February 2023 to manage the company’s CSR initiatives and enhance Nigeria’s socio-economic development.

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Education

NUC grants ESUT full accreditation for Law, 7 other programmes

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The National Universities Commission, (NUC), has given full accreditation to the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), for her Law programme.

According to the Public Relations Officer of ESUT, Mr Ikechukwu Ani, this is contained in a letter addressed to the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aloysius Okolie, on Wednesday in Enugu by the NUC.

Ani said that in the letter, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu said the report was contained in the result of the October/November 2024 accreditation of academic programmes in Nigerian universities.

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Ani disclosed that other programmes in the institution accredited by the NUC include Master of Science in Business Management; Education Computer Science; Education Physics and Agricultural Engineering.

Other accredited programmes he said were Quantity Surveying; Urban and Regional Planning; and Applied Microbiology.

He said that the letter quoted Section 10 (1) of the Education National Minimum Standard and Establishment of Institutions, Act CAP E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as empowering the NUC to lay down minimum academic standards for all academic programmes taught in Nigerian universities.

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He said the session also empowers the NUC to accredit such programmes.

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Crime

Court remands 2 over alleged attempted murder

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Court discharges man accused of burning father’s house in Abuja

An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, remanded two persons, Olaitan Fasasi and Kehinde Tobiloba in a correctional facility over alleged attempted murder.

Fasasi, 40, and Tobiloba, 26, whose addresses were not provided, are being charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and membership of a secret society.

The Magistrate, Mr L.A Owolabi, did not take the plea of the defendants for want of jurisdiction.

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Owolabi directed the police to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.

He thereafter adjourned the case until May 31 for mention.

The Prosecutor, Josephine Ikhayere, told the court that the defendants committed the offences at about 5.02p.m on Feb. 15, at Mushin, Lagos.

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She said that Fasasi, Tobiloba and others now at large, attempted to commit murder by shooting at a resident, Alfred Ademola.

“They armed themselves with a locally made gun. They belong to Eiye Confraternity, a group proscribed by law,”, she said.

Ikhayere said that the offences contravened Sections 230(1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2012.

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He said that the actions of the defendants also contravened Section 2(3)(a)(b)(c)(d) of the unlawful societies and Cultism Law of Lagos State Law.

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