Agbaje slams APC for refusing to congratulate him

Jimi Agbaje

The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has slammed the All Progressives Congress for refusing to congratulate him since he emerged as the winner of the PDP primary in Lagos, last Monday.

The APC spokesperson in Lagos, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, had said that the APC would not congratulate the PDP because of the controversy and allegations of rigging which greeted the primary.

In the PDP primary, 806 accredited delegates voted but the number of ballots cast turned out to be 863 and the runner up in the primary, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, has openly rejected the outcome of the primary, describing it as a sham.

However, the APC said it will not congratulate Agbaje because doing such “implies that we are supporting an illegality.”

Agbaje, in a statement by his director, media and publicity, Mr. Felix Oboagwina, said the APC were a bunch of hypocrites.

The statement read in part, “We had wondered why neither the APC candidate nor the party had deemed it fit to congratulate Agbaje in line with the finest tenets of democracy. But it is now clear that they were in shock at the emergence of a credible and powerful candidate for the PDP in Lagos State.

“The APC lacks the moral standing to point fingers because its own primaries had glaring flaws. For example, the APC only released the delegates’ list on the day of the primary, while the PDP released its delegates’ list a week before the first primary and two weeks before the governorship primary. Also, the APC candidate came through imposition, the method it has always used from time immemorial.”

“The APC has hinged its history on the imposition of candidates. And, in keeping with this undemocratic tradition, the APC ensured its governorship candidate emerged strictly through imposition.”

buja — President Goodluck Jonathan will, today, host the 46th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government which will, among other things, deliberate on the current political and security situation in the sub-region.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, Sunday, said President Jonathan and other participating Heads of State and Government of the regional body will also receive a briefing on recent developments in Burkina Faso and review the report of the 33rd Meeting of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council.

File Photo: From left:President Abdel Aziz of The Islamic Republic of Mauritania; President Idris Deby of Chad; President Goodluck Jonathan And Chadian Minister Of Communications, Mr Hassan Bakari Inspecting Exhibition Stands At The Maiden Edition Of The International Information And Communications Technology Show In N’djamena, Chad(9/9/14)

He added that also on the agenda of the summit are the consideration and adoption of the 2014 annual report of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, the consideration and adoption of the report of the 73rd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and the election of the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government for next year.

President Jonathan, the current Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President John Mahama of Ghana, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative for West Africa, Mr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas will present statements to the one-day summit before it goes into a closed-door session.

Some of the participating Heads of State and Government have already arrived in Abuja ahead of the opening of the summit tomorrow.

A communiqué on the summit’s decisions is expected at the conclusion of their deliberations tomorrow, the statement concluded.

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