NATIONAL Leader of All Progressives Congress,
APC, and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, said
Federal Government was planning to arrest leaders of his party ahead of
Saturday’s election.
Declaring that he was ready for arrest, Tinubu,
who spoke at the 7th Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos to mark his 63rd
birthday, said the plot will not silence him.
Insisting that APC had a better ticket in
Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) and Professor Yemi Osinbajo than the
President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo team of Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, Tinubu said despite the postponement of the polls by six
weeks, President Jonathan will still lose the election.
According to him the postponement is “a stay of
execution for Jonathan administration.”
The event was attended by a galaxy of APC
leaders and stalwarts, including National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun; former
Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; former Governor of Ekiti and Osun
states. Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Segun Oni, respectively; wife of Ogun State
Governor, Mrs Olufunsho Amosun; mother of the Vice Presidential candidate, Mrs
Bisi Osinbajo; Prof Pat Utomi and Chief Lanre Rasaq.
Tinubu spoke as Governor Aregbesola accused
President Jonathan of starving governors of funds just as Governor Fashola said
the President lied on his achievements in the last five years.
Buhari reacts
Speaking at the event, Buhari said the seamless
manner APC merger was consummated and the pedigree and long-time service of the
leaders will yield electoral dividends for the party.
He said: “This was possible because of their personal
service in their constituencies. They have served people so much that they have
developed so much confidence in them.
“Though there have been previous mergers but
they never materialized. And the most interesting thing is that we looked at
the opposition parties, and we realized that none of them can compete with PDP.
“And during the merger, some of the parties had
court cases that could delay the merger. So we constituted committees in each
of the parties and they provided their terms of references. And I was told by
Chief Bisi Akande that some of the parties are demanding for certain positions.
But I said that the most important thing is that the merger must works. And
after that, we will sit down and decide on each demand.
“All my previous attempt to defeat PDP ended up
at the Supreme Court. But with this merger, we have done the right job. With
the merger, we are witnessing progresses and come Saturday, we will succeed at
the polls by God’s grace.”
Why I can’t pay salaries – Aregbesola
Aregbesola attributed his delay in the payment
of five months’ salary arrears to Osun civil servants to “the economic strategy
adopted by President Jonathan to shrink the monthly revenue of the state.”
Aregbesola lamented that the economic policy of
the Federal Government had forced the state to take a loan of N12 billion from
banks.
His words: “The reason for indicting the
President was that when I assumed office in 2010, I met a state with an income
of N2.1 billion and with a wage bill of N1.1 billion.
“Outside Lagos, Osun State is the next state
with large number of civil servants under the state employ. By 2012 January, my
wage bill jumped to N3.6 billion and at this time, the revenue of the state had
increased to N4.6 billion.
Central government
“And do not forget that the state inherited 50
percent of the entire civil servants in the old Western states. But by July of
2013, the apex government announced an unusual decline in allocation to the
state which was about 40 percent. So from N4.6 billion with which I could meet
the wage need of the workers, the revenue of the state from the central
government was reduced to N2.6 billion.
“Since then, the highest monthly allocation
received by the government was in November 2013 and it was N3 billion. And
since then, Osun State had to augment salaries. Sometimes, N600 million, N1
billion and N1.6 billion.”
On his part, Fashola said President Jonathan
lied over the achievements recorded by his administration since 2011, when he
was sworn-in.
He said: “As I was reading the newspaper this
morning, I saw an advert published by President Goodluck Jonathan, where he
listed as part of his achievements the ongoing construction of the Adiyan Phase
11 water works and the N40 billion loan for education, which the central
government underwrote for Lagos State through the EKO project.
“The president claimed that they have fixed the
Airport Road and built Primary Health care Centres in Lagos State. Those who
use the PHC know the people you see there. There are many other things that
were also said in the advertorial. That advert is a lie.
Lagos State government under my administration
is the one building the waterworks. If the President wants to lie in order to
win election, it is a very low point for the presidential election.”
Source:Vanguardngr
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