The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has debunked rumors that its petition at the Ondo State Governorship Election Tribunal has been defeated, saying it was intact.

The party also urged the public to ignore posts in the social media that ACN’s petition had been dismissed.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Agbede, yesterday, ACN said: “Our attention has been drawn to the deluge of lies and propaganda being bandied about and posted on the social media network. LP supporters are lying that ACN’s petition at the tribunal has been struck out with that of Accord. For the avoidance of doubt, our petition at the tribunal is intact and will be heard in due course.”

The party reiterated its confidence in its legal team and urged its supporters to be optimistic on the outcome of the tribunal.

On Monday, the tribunal said it has jurisdiction to hear the ACN’s petition challenging the declaration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko as the winner of last October’s governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mimiko had defeated Rotimi Akeredolu of the Action Congress of Nigeria and Olusola Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party, to retain his seat after a keenly contested election on October 20, 2012.

 

Leading opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has called on the federal government to refurbish police colleges across the country.

The party while expressing hope that the promise by Police Affairs Minister, Caleb Olubolade, that the government will restructure and refurbish police training institutions across the country, is not a hoax designed only to douse the nationwide anger generated by the Channels TV expose on the rundown Police College in Ikeja.

ACN in a statement issued in Oyo yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said: “If this is one of those ploys to divert attention from a burning issue and then continue with business as usual, the government is in for a rude shock, because Nigerians will definitely hold the Jonathan Administration to its promise to refurbish the police training colleges,’’ .

‘’To convince Nigerians that this is not the usual government gimmick, the minister must give a time frame within which the government will redeem its pledge. This promise cannot be open-ended if it is to be credible,’’ it said.

ACN also flayed why the government had chosen to intimidate Channels TV, which decided to expose the rot at the police college in Ikeja as part of a strategy to forge a public-private partnership to help raise the resources needed to refurbish the college.

The opposition party said the announcement by the management of the TV station ‘’postponing’’ the forum, which it had planned to hold in order to actualise its plan, was a direct result of President Jonathan’s unnecessary and inexplicable anger at the station, when he should have channelled his energy into reversing the rot.

“Yes, Channels TV has not said publicly that it was forced to ‘postpone’ the forum, but any discerning person knows the TV station had to retrace its steps after no other personality than the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria left it in no doubt that its public service initiative was meant to ‘embarrass’ the Administration.”

The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has blasted the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for calling its Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, an ex-convict.

ACN said it was unfortunate and shameful that the ruling party that professed being blessed with intelligent people in its fold, finds it hard to tell the difference between a political prisoner and a criminal convict.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the country’s leading opposition bloc stated that “any attempt to label Chief Akande an ex-convict in a pejorative sense will be an exercise in futility, because he was neither convicted for abuse of office nor for any corruption-related offence by a duly constituted court.”

Mohammed explained that “the Special Military Tribunal that tried and sentenced hundreds of politicians, including Chief Akande, in the 1980s cannot be a reason to label all those it tried and convicted criminal ex-convicts, reminding the PDP that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) ordered its members to boycott the proceeding of the tribunal simply because it failed to meet the standard of a properly-constituted court.”

”If those who were tried and convicted by military tribunals are indeed deemed to have been properly tried and found guilty of the offences for which they were charged, many of them would not have gone ahead to hold important elective and appointive positions in the polity.”

“Outside Nigeria you have the global icon Nelson Mandela, who was tried, found guilty and jailed for life in 1964. Of course it will be laughable for anyone trying to denigrate Mandela to tag him an ex-convict, except of course that person is a member of the PDP!”

The spokesman noted that “Chief Bisi Akande, whom the PDP has chosen to pick on in its misguided mudslinging, is an embodiment of honesty, integrity, transparency and decency, who is more of a role model to our youth than most members of the PDP.”

“He served creditably in the private and the public sector, where he held many top posts including that of a Governor.”

“Today, at 74, those rare attributes that have come to define Chief Akande – honesty, decency, integrity and public service – have become synonymous with him. That is why we are proud to hold him up as our Chairman,” ACN said.

ACN admonished the PDP to devote its strength on its leaking tattered umbrella, instead of “trying to denigrate a man whom the people respect and hold up as a sharp distinction of mankind, at a time people are increasingly being defined by their vanities rather than the content of their character.”

”Well, we have got news for the PDP: While the legacy of Chief Akande is assured, that of the PDP is not. Therefore, we advise the sinking behemoth to turn its attention elsewhere, as it awaits its Waterloo,” the statement concluded.

The Rivers State Chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has vowed to resist plans by the state government to clampdown on opposition political parties and politicians in the state.

The party made the declaration in a press statement signed by its publicity secretary , Jerry Needam.

The ACN was reacting to a meeting in government house, Port Harcourt on January 9, 2013, where PDP local government chairmen and their Deputies were ordered to arrest anybody holding any kind of political meetings in their respective local government areas and charge such persons to court for cult activity.

Needam said: “The 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended guarantees freedom of speech, expression, meeting, gathering and/or assemblage.”

“The ACN vows to resist any attempt by the Rivers State government to put fear into opposition parties and politicians who have refused to join them to steal tax payers’ money”

“No amount of intimidation, harassment and threats shall hinder opposition political parties, politicians and well-meaning people of Rivers State from exposing massive corruption that has become the tradition in all local government councils, ministries and agencies of the Amaechi administration”. ACN vowed.

The ACN describes as anti-people, undemocratic, provocative and attempt to stir crisis in the state by the Rivers State government to have banned political meetings and gatherings in the state.

The party urges Governor Amaechi to have a rethink over the selfish and unpopular policy, declaring “We shall resist the attempt to gag us with the last drop of our blood. We cannot be fooled again. If you like, build more prison yards, we don’t bother”ACN tells Amaechi.