Today’s Headlines: Atiku Not Against You—Fayose Tells Wike, Naira Loses Slightly Against Dollar

Atiku Not Against You—Fayose Tells Wike

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has commented on the crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that the presidential flagbearer of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is not against Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

PDP has been witnessing a crisis since the emergence of Atiku as its 2023 presidential candidate.

The party erupted into crisis when Atiku picked Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate for next year’s election.

Wike has been aggrieved with PDP’s leadership over Atiku’s choice of a running mate.

Atiku ignored Wike, who came second during the PDP’s presidential primaries, a situation tearing the party apart.

Following his action, Wike called for the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s National Chairman.

The governor noted that the North could not produce PDP’s presidential candidate and the National Chairman.

However, Fayose insisted that the supposed feud between the two men was propelled by enemies wanting friction in the party, maintaining that Atiku and Wike are in no way against each other.

Fayose stated this during the commissioning of the Obuama Community Secondary School in Rivers State on Friday.

He said, “For me, I want to believe his Excellency Atiku Abubakar is not against you but let me say this quickly: a lot of people surrounding the throne are enemies of the throne, and a lot of people surrounding the throne have an issue to grind with somebody or some issues with somebody and they take it to where they are not supposed to take it.

“There is no living being within this party and outside this party that will not acknowledge your contribution to this party. You’re the soul of this party even till now, what you do, how many people do it.

“Let me say: your good works will never go unrewarded. I have found out some things. The people that have benefited from you are the people that have pulled people down; the people you brought up; the people you laboured over for day and night.”

He added, “I believe the needful will be done because winning an election is all that matters. Wike hasn’t come out to say that Atiku Abubakar isn’t the presidential candidate.

“I was there the second day after the election when our candidate, the former Vice President, visited the house, the residence of Governor Wike and we had mutual conversations; we were all happy. Everything was in place to move forward. I spoke at that meeting, but we don’t want to aggravate this situation.”

Naira Loses Slightly Against Dollar

The Naira on Friday lost slightly to the dollar, exchanging at N436.33 compared with N436.32 on Thursday.

The open indicative rate closed at N433.83 to the dollar on Friday.

An exchange rate of N437 to the dollar was the highest rate recorded within the day’s trading before it settled at N436.33.

The Naira sold for as low as N425 to the dollar within the day’s trading.

A total of 66.02million dollars was traded at the official Investors and Exporters window on Friday.

Meanwhile, over the past month, Nigeria’s commercial banks have openly declared reduced limits on international transactions using naira debit cards to $20 per month.

It means Nigerians would be unable to use their naira debit cards to make any transactions more than $20 in a month.

This comes as a longstanding scarcity of foreign exchange continues to bite Africa’s largest economy and biggest oil exporter, Nigeria, despite the recent surge in global energy prices.

APC, PDP refuse to disclose campaign funding sources

Eighteen days to the commencement of presidential campaigns, the sources of funding of campaign activities by the leading candidates remain a mystery as they have refused to disclose how they will raise money to sell their programmes to the electorate.

According to the timetable of the Independent Electoral Commission, campaigns for next year’s presidential election will begin on Wednesday, September 28, 2022.

Presidential campaigns in the country usually involves a lot of logistics such as candidates and party officials travelling to all states capitals to address rallies, where they sell their manifestos, mobilisation of supporters to such rallies, purchasing vehicles, printing souvenirs like T-shirts and fez caps as well as posters, placing advertisements in newspapers, online media, TV and radio stations, among others.

Section 88 of the Electoral Act, 2022 pegs the amount a presidential candidate can spend to prosecute an election at N5bn, while the sum an individual or entity can donate to the candidate is N50m.

However, responding to inquiries from Saturday PUNCH on the sources of funding for the 2023 presidential poll, the Director of Media and Publicity for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, said the party candidate’s strategy of raising funds for his campaign was not for media consumption.

He said, “Why should we be discussing that on the pages of newspapers? I can’t say anything. You will have to wait until a fund raising committee has been set up. Our directorate of the presidential campaign council is not dealing with all issues.

“But when members of the fund raising committee come on board, you will know the right person to ask that question. Until that is done, we can’t tell you anything on how we hope to raise funds.”

Tinubu self-made –Shittu

Also, the Director-General of the Asiwaju Tinubu-Shettima Coalition for Good Governance, Adebayo Shittu, argued that the candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s plan to raise a budget for his presidential campaign should not be a subject of discourse or the business of the public.

The former Minister of Communications noted that his principal “is a self-made man who doesn’t need external funding for electioneering activities.”

Shittu said, “This was evident long before he became the governor of Lagos State when he supported human rights organisations and several freedom fighters all over. We will not allow anything illegal to be done in our name. Even if you go out to raise money, there are positions of the law, which have to be complied with. Anybody attempting to do that must first look at the law.

“Asiwaju has the resources and can equally count on many other men of goodwill for support. As you must have heard, several people have been coming out willingly to ask how they can help with his campaign.

“I have been running this campaign for a while now without demanding one kobo from anybody. It has been my brain, efforts and money all the way. I have equally seen several people doing the same across the country.”

Asked to confirm reports that some governors and National Assembly members might be levied for the campaign, Shittu maintained that it remained a speculation “in the figment of the imagination of those making it.”

Responding to questions about how the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, would finance his election, the Atiku Campaign Council spokesperson, Daniel Bwala, said, “All the questions you are asking should be directed to INEC, because the law mandates us only to give INEC reports on the questions you are asking.”

Prodded further, he said, “Can a candidate fund an election without a campaign structure? Has the campaign structure been announced? When we get to the bridge, we will cross it; how do you want us to raise funds? I believe we will have to wait until the campaign structure is out; then, you can ask questions related to the campaign, because it is the campaign structure that sees our budget. To cross a bridge, you have to get to the bridge before you cross it.”

But the Media Adviser to Atiku, Paul Ibe, stated that his principal would raise money in line with the constitution.

Ibe said, “Atiku Abubakar will raise his campaign funds in line with the constitution of the country and the legal provision. He will not go outside of that; you can be sure of that.

“Atiku will not raise his funds in any shape or form that is illegal or in breach of the constitutional provision. He will comply with whatever provision the Electoral Act and the constitution spell out in raising funds for the campaign; whatever the law forbids, he will not do.”

Obi’s funding

The spokesman for the Peter Obi Support Network, Onwuasoanya Jones, said Nigerians had started donating to the ‘Obidient’ political movement to actualise the presidential ambition of the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi,

He added that the candidate would not spend up to the N5bn stipulated by the Electoral Act for the 2023 election.

Asked how much the LP flag bearer was hoping to raise, Jones stated that his supporters were targeting N1bn.

He said, “Peter Obi is a wealthy man, with all sense of modesty. If he was interested in unbridled acquisition of wealth, he wouldn’t be looking for $150m or N1bn, which I learnt the various support groups have vowed to contribute to his campaign. He is far richer than that.

“For the records, Peter Obi is not involved in any fundraising and he won’t control how one naira of whatever is realised is spent. This is money being contributed by the numerous support groups championing his candidacy.”

When asked how much had been raised so far, the Obi campaigner noted, “I cannot tell you how much has been realised because I am not in charge of the collection and the groups are running their programmes independent of the POSN and the Peter Obi team, but I can tell you that if Nigerians need to contribute N100tn to make Peter Obi president, millions of Nigerians, including, the poorest of the poor, are ready to put their life savings to realise the Peter Obi presidency, because they see it as an investment in a better future for themselves and their children.”

Similarly, the Convener, Women for Peter Obi, Ebere Obiesie, said the campaign budget of the group was not ready on account of the ongoing aggressive grassroots mobilisation project.

She explained that there were different components of a political campaign budget, adding that the WPO had been careful to select expenses that were essential to help it run a successful campaign.

She said, “Hopefully, we should have an implementable comprehensive budget before the campaigns begin. We have assembled a smart team drawn from relevant units in our organisation – finance and accounts, planning and strategy, and mobilisation and logistics – that has developed a robust fundraising framework for our campaign and grassroots mobilisation. A number of strategies will be deployed for our fundraising.”

Obiesie stated that the WPO was considering the option of a special dinner to raise funds to boost Obi’s campaign, but would not levy governors and politicians.

She added, “Women are happy to contribute their N1,000, N3,000, N5,000, N20,000, N100,000 etc in this ‘Obidient’ movement. Never before has anyone witnessed this level of resolve and commitment by Nigerians, especially the women. It’s simply amazing.

Nigerian Final-Year Medical Student Turns To Street Food Vendor Over University Lecturers, ASUU’s Strike

Usman Abubakar-Rimi, a Medicine and Surgery final year student at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto State, (UDUS) has narrated how he turned to a street food vendor due to the prolonged industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

ASUU has been on strike since February 14, 2022, keeping thousands of students at home.

Abubakar-Rimi said he conceived the initiative in order to engage in productive living as the strike forced students to become redundant.

The student, who owns a food outlet in the Diplomat area in Sokoto metropolis, explained that the ongoing strike gave him the opportunity to expand the business.

“I hired a shop, employing eight people manning tea and indomie joints, selling bottled and canned drinks, masa, rice and beans, peppe soup and meat along with the Point of Sale (POS) business.

“A plate of food sells from N200 and above depending on the needs of the customer,” Abubakar-Rimi said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday.

He explained that he owned another shop on Fodio road, also in the Sokoto metropolis where he sells men and women’s clothing, caps, student bags, and shoes.

“I am always happy to see that I become an employer of labour. At present, I engaged 10 persons in the two shops.

“I relied on the shops for handsome incomes, because I don’t ask my parents for any money in spite of the fact that schools were closed,” he added.

Abubakar-Rimi said he did not access any loan or youth empowerment scheme to embark on the businesses.

“However, I utilized the opportunity of COVID-19 lockdown, during the pandemic and started an egg and chicken distribution business where I had made contacts with restaurants for the supply.

“I also obtained the eggs and chickens from large scale farms from small amounts to higher quantity suppliers, from the proceeds I started the two businesses,” he added.

The student entrepreneur said the businesses had a lot of prospects and encouraged youths to think on the ways to utilise their time and venture into viable initiatives.

“With the lucrative opportunities provided by the businesses, I envisage to continue with the ventures even after my graduation.

“When I become a medical doctor, I envisage to engage in work that will not be too time consuming because at present, I have begun to lose hope on a salary earning job.

“I want to establish a pharmacy, work in a private hospital as well as engage in private initiated-businesses relevant to my profession,” he explained.

He advised students to utilise their free times to engage in businesses, stressing that the present online services provided a lot of opportunities to leverage.

The student called on President Muhammadu Buhari to find a lasting solution to the strike in the interest of youths and the country’s progress.

He further appealed to the lecturers and the federal government to consider the students’ plight and resolve the issue as the effects of the strike bites harder.

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