The All Progressives Congress has berated the National Communications Commission for directing telecoms companies not to run political adverts.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said during a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday that the directive was issued in order to give the Peoples Democratic Party an unfair advantage.
Mohammed said the directive was suspect as it was issued shortly after the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, unveiled the platforms through which Nigerians could make monetary contributions to the campaign of its presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
He noted that Fashola had disclosed that apart from receiving contributions through bank deposits, Nigerians could make donations through SMS, ringtones and scratch cards.
Mohammed, however, said the NCC instructed telecoms service providers not to accept political promotions and adverts so that Buhari would not be able to get enough funds.
He said the directive would not affect the PDP because President Goodluck Jonathan had already been able to raise over N21bn.
He wondered why traditional media like newspapers, televisions and radios would be allowed to carry adverts while the telecoms were being barred.
He said, “The NCC has now written to all the service providers to avoid running political/advertisement promotions that will portray them as being partisan and has threatened to sanction any service provider that will flout this directive. Effectively, the NCC is seeking to block our ability to use the platforms of SMS, ringtones and scratch cards to raise funds.
“By doing so, the same body, a national institution, that is warning telecoms companies against running political/advertisements in order not to be portrayed as partisan has become a tool of crass partisanship! What an irony!!
“It is also necessary to note that no regulatory body has barred the use of the traditional platforms of radio, television and print media from running political advertisements and promotions.
“There can’t be a clearer example of abuse of office. We are extremely concerned by this brazen act of intimidation and regulatory lawlessness towards legitimate businesses providing perfectly legitimate advertisement services, especially when the advertisers have not breached any law or prevented their subscribers from opting out of such services.”
“We are all the more appalled that the NCC seems splendidly oblivious of the fact that the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 does not outlaw advertisements.”
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has defended the academic qualification of its presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, citing new legal details after the Nigerian Army denied it has copies of Mr. Buhari’s certificates as he earlier claimed.
The Constitution requires a minimum of secondary school certificate or its equivalent for election to the office of the president.
But amid intense debate over Mr. Buhari’s academic suitability, the APC said in any consideration, the former military leader remains very qualified for the election.
The party quoted part IV, Section 318 of the Constitution which interprets “School Certificate level or its equivalent” as follows:
(a) A Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent, Grade II Teacher’s Certificate, the City and GuildsCertificate; or
(b) Education up to Secondary School Certificate Level; or
(c) Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent and –
(i) service in the public or private sector in the Federation in any capacity acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for a minimum of ten years, and
(ii) attendance at courses and training in such institutionsas may be acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for periods totalling up to a minimum of oneyear, and
(iii) The ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the English language to the satisfaction of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and
(d) Any other qualification acceptable by the Independent National Electoral Commission;
The Army had earlier admitted having copies of Mr. Buhari’s certificates. But on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Army, Olajide Laleye, reversed that position.
Mr. Laleye also said there were no records that the army in the 1960s verified Mr. Buhari’s claim to have attained a Senior Secondary Certificate.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, APC accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and President Goodluck Jonathan, of attempting to compromise the army, describing the move as “a dangerous game” thatcoulddestroy the military.
The party urged the military, as a symbol of national unity, to beware of those who may be seeking to use it to achieve selfish and divisive ends.
It said the statement credited to Mr. Laleye, a Brigadier General, that the army is notin possession of Mr. Buhari’s certificates, is in direct conflict with what he said on January 4 on the same issue.
”In an interview with the Punch on Jan. 4th 2015, Brig.-Gen. Olaleye said: ‘Every serving and retired Army officer has at least a copy of his certificates and credentials kept in the Nigerian Army while that same serving and retired officer has copies of those same certificates and credentials’.
”Is Brig.-Gen. Olaleye now saying thathe did not make that statement? If he did, what has happened between then and now to make him to recant? It will be interesting to know what has transpired between then and now,” APC said.
But more worrisome, the party said, is the statementcredited toMr. Laleye that there was no evidence that the certificates of all those who joined the army inthe early 1960s were verified by the selection board.
”Is he now saying that all those who were commissioned into the officer cadres in the 1960s did not have their certificates verified? Does this not confirm what we said that in trying to destroy Gen. Buhari, the PDP and the Jonathan Administration will end up destroying the army as an institution? Or is it only Gen. Buhari that was commissioned into the army in the 1960s,” itsaid.
The party also quoted Mr. Buhari as saying in an affidavit on 24/11/2014 that ”All my academic qualifications documents as filled in my presidential form, President APC/001/2015 are currently with the Secretary Military Board as at the time of this affidavit.”
”Those who are behind the latest controversy should now tell Nigerians what happened to Gen. Buhari’s certificates between the time of his affidavit and now,” itsaid.
The party said since Mr. Laleye has now confirmed that Mr. Buhari indeed applied to join the Army from form six, that the principal of the school he attended even attested to his suitability, and that the form he filled contained his Secondary School Certificate results, there is no scintilla of doubt about his qualification to run for president as stipulated by the Constitution.
”However, we know that the PDP and the Jonathan Administration have constituted themselves into a court of law and will like nothing more than the disqualification of our candidate so they will face no challenge in next month’s election. This is wishful thinking,” it said.
On the contradictions in the statements credited to the Army spokesman, the party said: ”It is true that our once globally-respected military has now been made comatose by the PDP-led Federal Government, but we believe things have not reached the level where the same military will be engaging in actions that amount to self-destruction, justto satisfy some political interests.
”We believe things have not reached a levelwhere we, as a nation, will now be giving the impression that a man who rose to become a Major-General in the Nigerian Army does not have requisite qualifications?
”What really is happening in our country if some politicians have now decided to engage in an action that will amount to dragging the military into politics, dividing an institution that is a symbol of national unity, trivializing the service of those who fought to keep Nigeria one and ridiculing the same country itis supposed tobe ruling?
”We have said it before and will like to repeat: Enough is enough about this distraction orchestrated by the PDP and the Jonathan Administration whose electioneering campaign for next month’s polls has suffered a train
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wreck,” the party said.
The Boko Haram Islamist sect on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack on a multinational military base in Baga, Borno State, during which about 2,000 people were killed on January 3, this year.
The sect leader, Abubakar Shekau, in a new video on You tube also taunted Presidents Paul Biya of Cameroon, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger and Idris Deby of Chad.
He also expressed disdain for President Goodluck Jonathan, and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the February 14 presidential election, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), describing them as infidels.
Shekau, who spoke in Hausa said, “Jonathan, you are in trouble. And Buhari, do you think he is a true Muslim? He’s an infidel.”
The insurgents, who invaded Baga early this year, razed many buildings and homes in the week that followed, shooting civilians as they tried to flee, witnesses said.
Some local officials put the death toll as high as 2,000, although the military said it was 150.
The video was in the trademark Boko Haram style, with the bearded man claiming to be Shekau in combat fatigues and surrounded by masked gunmen.
“We are the ones that carried out the attack and it is just the tip of the iceberg. There are more coming,” he said.
On the weapons the insurgents seized from Baga, he said they were enough to annihilate Nigeria.
Soldiers fled the area after the nearby army base, which is the headquarters of a multinational force comprising troops from Chad, Niger and Cameroon, by Lake Chad was overrun. Chad and Cameroon are being drawn into the fight against Boko Haram, but mistrust has hampered cooperation.
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has condemned the escalation of “appalling levels of violence” in the North-East and warned that she would prosecute members of any party responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Bensouda said her office had continued a preliminary examination into allegations that Boko Haram extremists were killing large numbers of civilians, using girls and boys to participate in the conflict and forcing massive numbers of people from their homes.
She also warned the Federal Government of its obligation to prosecute crimes that “deeply shock the conscience of humanity.
“No one should doubt my resolve, if need be, to prosecute those individuals most responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity,” Bensouda said in a statement from the court’s headquarters in The Hague on Tuesday.
Boko Haram has increased the ferocity and tempo of its attacks in recent weeks, with international outrage over reports that as many as 2,000 civilians may have been systematically slaughtered in the January 3, 2015 attack on Baga town and the military base at the border with Cameroon.
The sect had also increased attacks on Cameroon, raising fears that the conflict was spreading and prompting the country to deploy troops to defend its borders with Nigeria.
Niger’s Foreign Minister, Bazoum Mohamed, told a meeting on Tuesday of the Economic Community of West African States to discuss a collective response to Boko Haram, saying that the Islamic militants are no longer a Nigerian problem but they threaten the security of the region.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has strongly condemned the reported stoning of the campaign convoy of President Goodluck Jonathan in Katsina State on Tuesday, saying violence of any kind is totally unacceptable to the party.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said President Jonathan should be free to campaign anywhere in the country without hindrance.
It said even though the attack on the President’s convoy took place a day after the provocative death-wish-for-Buhari newspaper advertorial that was put out in the name of the President, nothing justifies the stoning of the President’s convoy anywhere in the country.
APC restated its commitment to a continuous enlightenment of its members and supporters to eschew violence before, during and after next month’s general elections, and urged other parties to follow suit.
”We consider election as a celebration of democracy, not a do-or-die affair. Whether or not one agrees with the campaign message of any party, engaging in violence negates the very essence of democracy and should be condemned by all,” the party said.
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