Day the gods got angry at Bola Tinubu

By Ogbuefi Blogs

It was not only the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a founding member of opposition All Progressive Congress, Chief Tom Ikimi; a former Deputy Governor of Ogun State and member of the Senate, Adegbenga Kaka; co-chairman of the screening committee, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, and several other notable members of the party that were angry over the manner the new leaders emerged, even the gods got visibly angry at the way Former governor of Lagos State imposed his candidates as National officers of the All Progressives Congress at the national convention of the opposition party held on Friday at Eagle Square, Abuja. 

 

This became apparent as midway into the imposition of candidates, strong downpour, accompanied by strong wind, disrupted the proceedings around 2:00am and the voting process could not be completed as officers and delegates scampered to safety as the wind scattered ballot boxes, canopies and the public address system.

After the convention, it became apparent that all the reports of former PDP governors effort to whittle down the power and influence of Asiwaju Tinubu in the mega-party has come to nought as the master strategist made sure that no candidate without his blessing emerged as winner in any of the coveted posts. 

However, immediately after former Governor of Edo State, and Tinubu's ally, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, emerged as the first substantive National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, in the early hours of Saturday, former governor of Ekiti State, who recently defected from the PDP, Mr. Segun Oni, emerged as Deputy National Chairman (South), while a former national secretary of Tinubu's Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lawal Shuaibu, was also returned unopposed as deputy national chairman (North), the interim National Secretary, Alhaji Ibrahim Bala Gubi, as the substantive National Secretary following the withdrawal of Alhaji Kashim Imam from the race, while the Interim Publicity Secretary of the party and another friend of Bola Tinubu, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was returned unopposed to retain his former position;

The process of electing other officers was disrupted by a downpour, accompanied by strong wind. 

The voting process could not be completed as officers and delegates scampered to safety as the wind scattered ballot boxes, canopies and the public address system 

It was learnt that the emergence of Odigie-Oyegun, as the consensus candidate for the post was an arrangement perfected by the leadership and executed by the Alhaji Kawu Baraje-led election sub-committee of the first National Convention Planning Committee, at the Eagle Square, Abuja. 

Odigie-Oyegun’s victory was made possible by a powerful lobby led by the unopposed leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. A few hours to the convention, Chief Tom Ikimi, was the only remaining contestant who could not be prevailed upon by Tinubu to step down for Oyegun. 

At the convention, an elated Bola Tinubu obviously satisfied at the way his plan to get all candidates appointed by consensus without an election declared: "No one is more elated than me here today at this convention ground. No more is history in the making. History has been made the formation and now the first national convention of the All Progressives Congress, APC. I welcome you all to HISTORY!"

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said: When the wind of change blows, it sweeps clean! He floored other leadership pretenders including Buhari, El rufai, Rotimi Amaechi, Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Kwankwaso

 

However, contrary to the assertion from the APC that its leaders emerged at the convention through hitch-free consensus, some notable members of the party have expressed anger over the manner the leaders emerged, threatening future actions. 

A notable founding member of the party, Chief Tom Ikimi, in an interview with a Punch correspondents, denied reports that he conceded the chairmanship position of the party to the eventual winner, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. 

“I did not willingly step down for Chief Odigie-Oyegun. I was not there. I did not step down for anybody because I was not there. Whoever said I stepped down is telling a lie because I was not at the convention. I didn’t participate. I boycotted the convention,” Ikimi responded, angrily. 

Ikimi, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, was credited as being instrumental in the merger process of the Action Congress of Nigeria, All Nigeria Peoples Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance and Congress for Progressive Change. 

It was he who announced the merger of the four political parties to form the All Progressives Congress.

In what his next line of action will be, following his discontentment with the convention, he said, “I am preparing a statement which I shall release in the next few days.” 

Also, a former Deputy Governor of Ogun State and member of the Senate, Adegbenga Kaka, said he did not attend the convention because he was not officially invited. He said even though he had the privilege to be at the event, he decided not to attend when he sensed irregularities in the conduct of the exercise. 

He said, “There was no formal invitation and I was not waiting for any invitation. I perceived injustice and I decided not to go. I was not the only one; many of us in Ogun State did not go. 

“The moment they (APC national leadership) decided not to review the appeal committee’s report and take action that would unite the party; and they decided to recognise a faction, then we lost interest in whatever was going on. 

“We are waiting. We will do necessary analysis; we will listen and assess all that transpired (at the convention) and take a decision.” 

In Cross River State, a co-chairman of the screening committee, who resigned to contest for the position of the national Vice Chairman, South-South, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, said he would seek redress to correct the manner in which consensus candidates were picked. 

Obono-Obla contested against Mr. Hilliard Eta, who emerged winner as the consensus candidate for the position zoned to Cross River State. 

He lamented that he was not invited to the meeting where Eta was picked as the consensus candidate.

“What criteria did they use to pick him? Before this convention, a delegate from the state called to inform me that I should not bother; That Eta had been picked. Why so,” he queried? 

He said although the issue of consensus candidacy was in the party’s constitution, the manner of picking a candidate should be made more transparent. 

Obono-Obla also alleged that during the convention, a list purported to have been endorsed by the APC governors, was sent round indicating the chosen candidates. 

He said such a practice was wrong as the fate of contestants whose names were not on the list were known before the conduct of elections. 

He said, “I am thinking of seeking redress. Why should they pass a list of preferred candidates. What criteria were used?” 

Other notable party members that were absent at the convention were the former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba, his erstwhile deputy and many other chieftains of the party from the state. 

The reason might not be unconnected with the cold war between Osoba and Governor Ibikunle Amosun on who should control the structure of the party. 

Some APC senators, who did not attend the convention, expressed mixed feelings over the consensus arrangement that produced the national officers of the party. 

Some believe the development could force some members, perceived to be advocates of primaries, to leave the party. 

A serving Senator from Ogun State, who preferred anonymity, said he shunned the convention in agreement with his colleagues because of the decision of some leaders in the state to hijack the structure of the party. 

Ogbuefi Ndigbo

 

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GOWON, IGBOS AND NIGERIA SOON AFTER THE CIVIL WAR BY USA INTELLIGENCE

The Gowon Regime

Gowon's influence depended upon his position as chairman of the Supreme Military Council, which had come into existence in March 1967. The council included top-ranking staff officers, service and police heads, state military governors, and the civilian administrator of the East Central State. Gowon also chaired the Federal Executive Council, the cabinet of ministers composed of military officers and civilian technocrats. The regime ruled by decree, although the concurrence of state military governors was sought before decrees were issued. In October 1970, Gowon announced his intention to stay in power until 1976, which was set as the target year for completion of the military's political program and the return to an elected civilian government. Gowon outlined a nine-point program that would enable the military to relinquish control. Included in the package were reorganization of the armed forces; implementation of a national economic development plan, including reconstruction of war damaged areas, eradication of corruption; establishment of more states; adoption of a new constitution; introduction of a formula for allocating revenue; completion of a national census; organization of national political parties; and elections at federal and state levels. Criticism of the six-year plan was widespread because the agenda was so broad. Many Nigerians feared that the military planned to retain power indefinitely. The reaction of civilian politicians was particularly negative. Muslim traditionalists also expressed concerns that military rule, with its modernizing tendencies, would erode the authority of the emirates. Foreign Policy Gowon reaffirmed the priorities in foreign policy established at independence. These included active participation in the UN, advocacy of pan-African solidarity through the Organization of African Unity (OAU), regional cooperation, support for anticolonial and liberation movements--particularly those in southern Africa--and nonalignment in the East-West conflict. The role of Nigeria in world affairs, outside its African concerns, was insignificant, however. Nigeria was admitted to the UN within a week of independence in 1960. It was represented on the committees of specialized agencies and took its turn as a nonpermanent member of the Security Council. One of Nigeria's earliest and most significant contributions to the UN was to furnish troops for the peacekeeping operation in Zaire in the early 1960s. By 1964 Nigerian army units, under Ironsi's command, formed the backbone of the UN force. The FMG was committed to eliminating whiteminority rule in Africa, and it channeled financial and military aid to liberation movements through the OAU. Although there was considerable African criticism of Nigeria during the civil war, the military government resisted this pressure as interference in the country's internal affairs. An OAU statement in 1967 backing the federal position on national unity assuaged Nigerian feelings to some extent, but Lagos protested subsequent OAU efforts to bring about a cease-fire. When the war ended, Nigeria's participation in OAU activities returned to normal. There were minor problems relating to border demarcations with neighboring countries, but these were resolved to the satisfaction of the parties involved. Relations also were mended with African states that had recognized Biafra. Particularly close ties were developed with the military regime in Ghana, which gave full support to the federal government during the civil war. In 1975 Nigeria joined other West African countries in creating the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), whose mandate was the reduction of trade barriers among countries in the region. Sponsored by Gowon, the agreement was indicative of the government's concern with improving intraregional economic ties. Nigeria played an active role in the Commonwealth, which linked Nigeria to developing countries outside Africa and complemented regional ties through ECOWAS and the OAU. Financial and technical assistance was channeled to Nigeria through the Commonwealth. The aid came from Britain, Canada, and Australia, with which Nigeria had advantageous trade relations. Nigeria's interaction with Britain continued to be cooperative, although the renewal of arms sales to South Africa, permitted by the Conservative British government in the early 1970s, caused some strain in Nigeria. Relations cooled even more because of Nigeria's apprehension over Britain's application for entry into the European Economic Community (EEC). Nigeria feared that it would suffer economically as a result of British membership in the EEC. The FMG was committed to the principle of nonalignment, a policy initially established in the early years of independence. Acceptance of Western aid--including US$225 million from the United States in the early years of independence--tended to undermine this position. Nigeria had begun to move toward a more autonomous position in 1962, when the Anglo-Nigerian Defense Pact was abrogated. With this step, Nigeria affirmed its independence of British foreign policy to which it had adhered since achieving nationhood. The abrogation of the pact was a clear message of nonalignment. During the war, the federal government accepted assistance from both East and West. Aircraft and heavy equipment were purchased from the Soviet Union, for example, because Britain and the United States refused to supply heavy armaments. Nigeria's relations with the United States were good, largely because the United States provided financial aid and recognized the FMG during the civil war. United States ties with South Africa and Portugal caused some friction on the official level, and there was considerable criticism in the Nigerian press. The Nigerian version of nonalignment had a slightly pro-Western tilt. Economic Development After the civil war, the FMG moved to resurrect the six-year development plan inaugurated in 1962. The First National Development Plan charted Nigeria's transition from an essentially agricultural economy to a mixed economy based on agricultural expansion and limited industrial growth. Government was heavily involved in the economy because locally generated private investment was unable to generate sufficient capital for development. New development plans were instituted in 1970 and 1975, but the goals set in all three plans proved unrealistic. By the late 1960s, oil had replaced cocoa, peanuts, and palm products as the country's biggest foreign exchange earner. In 1971 Nigeria--by then the world's seventh-largest petroleum producer--became a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The dramatic rise in world oil prices in 1974 caused a sudden flood of wealth that can be described as "dynamic chaos." Much of the revenue was intended for investment to diversify the economy, but it also spurred inflation and, coming in the midst of widespread unemployment, underscored inequities in distribution. In 1975 production fell sharply as a result of the sudden decrease in world demand, and prices moved downward until late in the year when OPEC intervened to raise prices. Nigeria fully supported OPEC policies. In 1972 the government issued an indigenization decree, the first of a number of Nigerian Enterprises Promotion decrees, that barred aliens from investing in specified enterprises and reserved participation in certain trades to Nigerians. At the time, about 70 percent of commercial firms operating in Nigeria were foreign-owned. In 1975 the federal government bought 60 percent of the equity in the marketing operations of the major oil companies in Nigeria, but full nationalization was rejected as a means of furthering its program of indigenization. Unemployment constituted an increasingly serious problem. Large numbers of farm workers, who had gone to urban areas in search of higher wages, remained in the cities even if they failed to find jobs, while school graduates and dropouts flooded the labor market at a rate of 600,000 a year in the mid-1970s. Unemployment reached its highest levels in the crowded Igbo areas in the east, where the economy still was recovering from the effects of the war. Skilled workers were reluctant to leave the east in search of work, although eventually the shortage of skilled workers in other parts of the country began to have its effect in overcoming Igbo fears. The dangers involved in discharging large numbers of soldiers who had no job prospects made demobilization of the costly military establishment undesirable. Substantial increases in public-sector employment promised to absorb some of the soldiers, but they lacked training. These economic problems assumed an imposing political dimension. To some extent, they reflected a pattern in the world economic situation, but the popular imagination blamed corruption and mismanagement and held the Gowon regime responsible. The regime also had to deal with a severe drought that struck the northern states between 1972 and 1974. The drought was the most serious since that of 1913-14. The drought and resulting famine affected the Sahel countries to the west, north, and east far more than Nigeria, but considerable numbers of refugees poured into Nigeria from Niger. Famine conditions also prevailed in some parts of the north of Nigeria. In the long run, however, Nigerian agriculture benefited from the rise in prices that resulted from crop failures in other parts of the Sahel. In the short run, the drought influenced policy decisions about the necessity of promoting irrigation schemes and reforestation. Crime, Corruption, and Political Turbulence In 1972 Gowon partially lifted the ban on political activity that had been in force since 1966 in order to permit a discussion of a new constitution that would prepare the way for civilian rule. The debate that followed was ideologically charged. Awolowo's call for a transition to "democratic socialism" made the military particularly nervous. The press, trade unions, and universities demanded a quick return to the democratic process. The call for new states was loud, but there was no agreement over how many there should be. Gowon abruptly ended public discussion, explaining that "peace is more important than politics." The decennial census was scheduled for 1973. Under the banner "Prepare to be Counted," the military government conducted a public campaign that emphasized the technical rather than political dimensions of the exercise. The procedure was to be supervised by a committee whose members were selected carefully for geographical and ethnic balance, and computers were to be used for processing the returns. Despite measures taken to ensure a more accurate count than had been possible before, the results once again confounded demographers: the census found that Nigeria's population had increased by nearly 44 percent in 10 years, a rate of growth unprecedented in any developing country. According to the returns submitted, the north contained 64 percent of the total population, compared with 53.7 percent in 1963, a figure even then believed to be exaggerated. The 1973 census, on which representation in a new, elected parliament would be based, revived fears that one ethnic group would permanently dominate the others. It also meant that a considerable share of oil revenues would flow to the northern states under the existing system of allocation. The government failed in its efforts to sell the census as a technical exercise because the political implications were widely understood and hotly debated, despite the ban on political discussion. The Gowon regime came under fire because of widespread and obvious corruption at every level of national life. Graft, bribery, and nepotism were an integral part of a complex system of patronage and "gift" giving through which influence and authority were asserted. Although the military had pledged to rid the government of corruption, the public became increasingly aware of abuses, primarily because of daily exposés in the press. In 1973 the federal government established a special anticorruption police force--the "X-Squad"--whose subsequent investigations revealed ingenious forms of extortion and fraud-- not only in government and public corporations but in private business and in the professions as well. A major scandal that had international implications and reached the highest levels of government and the business community took place in the mid-1970s; it involved the purchase abroad of construction materials by state agents at prices well above market values. Rake-offs were pocketed by public officials and private contractors. Other scandals in hospitals and orphanages shocked the populace, while corruption in importing medical drugs whose effective dates long since had expired revealed that even the health of Nigerians was at risk. Inefficiencies compounded the impact of corruption. In mid1975 , 400 cargo ships--250 of them carrying 1.5 million tons of cement--clogged the harbor of Lagos, which had been paralyzed for fifteen months with vessels waiting to be unloaded. To compound the error, spoiled and inferior-grade cement was concealed by mixing it with acceptable material for use in public building projects. Later, buildings collapsed or had to be dismantled because of the inferior product. New roads washed away because of bad construction and inadequate controls. In these scandals, as in others, the culprits were a combination of Nigerian businessmen, government officials, and foreign companies. Few people and few projects seemed exempt from the scourge. Crime posed a threat to internal security and had a seriously negative impact on efforts to bring about economic development. Armed gangs, often composed of former soldiers, roamed the countryside engaging in robbery, extortion, and kidnapping. The gangs sometimes operated with the connivance of the police or included moonlighting soldiers. Pirates raided cargo ships awaiting entry to ports or unloaded them at the piers ahead of the stevedores. Drug trafficking and smuggling were prevalent. Punishment was meted out to large batches of convicted and suspected criminals, who were dispatched by firing squads in public executions meant to impress spectators with the seriousness of the offenses and with the government's concern to curb crime. These measures had no noticeable effect on the crime rate, however, but seemed rather to provoke a callous public attitude toward violence. In January 1975, Gowon revamped the membership of the Federal Executive Council, increasing the number of military ministers. He depended more and more on a small group of advisers and became increasingly inaccessible to his military colleagues. Without broad consultation, he backed off from the 1976 date set for a return to civilian rule, explaining that to adhere rigidly to it would "amount to a betrayal of a trust" and "certainly throw the nation back into confusion." Public employees staged protest strikes in May and June that brought essential services to a standstill. The government responded by granting retroactive wage increases that averaged 30 percent, which fed inflation and led to industrial strikes as union members demanded parallel raises. The political atmosphere deteriorated to the point that Gowon was deposed in a bloodless coup d'état July 29, 1975--the ninth anniversary of the revolt that had brought him to power. At the time, Gowon was at an OAU summit meeting in Kampala, Uganda. The perpetrators of the coup included many of the officers who had participated in the July 1966 coup. Even the officers responsible for Gowon's security were involved. Gowon pledged his full loyalty to the new regime and left for exile in Britain, where he received a pension from the Nigerian government.                  Custom Search Source: U.S. Library of Congress

http://countrystudies.us/nigeria/25.htm -- BY USA INTELLIGENCE

The Hypocrisy Of Black People Reaction Against Boko Haram

 By Chief Elder Osiris  

Ignore The Divine Truth in favor of a Profane Lie and the Lie will win every time to a Mind that Believe and do not Think, and the case with Boko Haram, Black people are doing what has come natural for us to do, and that is allow our oppressors to dictate our emotion of reaction, and never allow our emotion be the reason for Black people to act against any and all evil, regardless from whom it is being acted out against Black people.

Boko Haram is either a agent of the Western world or he is a idiot to the Black World, displaying a Mind that have him acting in favor of those he make claim to be against, the western world Religion, a world with a history of lying and deceiving Black people about A God created by Christaindom, yet his action is done in favior of the Arab World, whose History is the same as the western world against the Black world, Boko terrozing young Black children in the name of the religion of Islam, both religious belief carry a virus that cause mental deteriation to the Mind of Black people.

So, if the out cry against Boko is to be just, then we must admit that his reason for his action, is in direct contradiction to his reason he claim justify his action, each reason is about the teaching of a Religion that does not contradict the result that come from such religious teaching to our children, be it the religion of the Western World, the religion of the Arab World  or the religion of the Jewish world, all religion make a fool out of the Black World who attempt to relate with God by belief, Faith, and Hope, all such principles of Religion, is a disrespect to our Ancient Cosmic Divine Black First Way Ancestors Knowledge about the Divine Essence of All things physical and not physical.

So, for Black people to be chanting save our Girls, which is a chant based on deception, because the atmosphere such a chant is calling for our girls to, the call will have our children to be placed back into the atmosphere that is destroying the mind of our children, teaching them what to believe and not how to Think, concerning everything that do and will affect their way of living, in a way that Divine Truth and Reality is not the goal for them to know about, and that such must be the focus by our children mind today, concerning God and Living Free and Independent, free to critically Think about everything that affect the living of Life.

Boko action only reveal that he is a product of the evil he make claim to be against, and so is all of those who make claim to be against Boko, because one act of evil does not justify another act of evil, and those who now chant to bring our Girls Home, is advocating bringing our Girls back into the Citadel of Evil as well.

 Religion is a constant evil to Black people, regardless of what stripes (denomination ) it wear, religion is cruelty to the Mind of Black people, all is is the same, which show that our children today, have no protection of their parents who willfully expose them to the evil of religion of all persuasion.

Boko has revealed the weakness of the Afrikan people in Afrika, and that weakness is caused by the Tribal division and religious belief that is common to Black Afrikan people in and out of Afrika.

You mean to tell me that all of those phony Afrikan country states are so technological impotent to the point that they have not the intelligence to find out where those Girls are, and by the silence of those so call Afrikan countries, it appear as if their Military is just as incapable from uniting for the purpose of Saving the Children in Afrika,.

Have we Black folks become so ill prepared to be the strength and cornerstone for our children protection, we being all wrapped up in the westernized way of believing, which weaken the mind set of Black people?

Woe, is unto you Black Afrikans in Afrika, acting like little children when our Children are in need of Grown up Black Afrikans in Afrika, to protect them.

As The Honorable Garvey would say to Black people, "Up You Mighty Race, You Can Accomplish What You Will", not believe you will, but know you will.

Oh How Far We Black People Have Fallen Away From The Knowledge Left To Us By Our Divine Cosmic Black First Way Ancestors.


Chief Elder Hoteph Osiris

Violence Erupts At APC Convention

As Former Governor Of Edo State, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, Emerge National Chairman

Violence erupted at the secretariat of the Convention Committee of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Abuja.

Two APC members were beaten up by some delegates of the party from Abia and Ebonyi states while policemen looked on. One of them who was labeled as “Ngige boy” was stripped naked near the secretariat along Emeka Anyaoku Street, Area 11 Abuja.

Fighting erupted between delegates of different factions of the party from Abia and Ebonyi States. Some of the aggrieved delegates from both states who spoke to newsmen alleged that although they were democratically elected as delegates for the party’s convention, they had been denied accreditation by the Convention Committee headed by Sokoto State Governor Alhaji Aliyu Wammako with Senator Chris Ngige as secretary.

APC National Convention: Convention Committee Members Senator Olorunbe Mamowora discussion with Senator Chris Ngige and others at the Convention . Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan

One of the delegates from Abia State who identified himself as Uche Emeka accused Ngige, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, former National Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu and National Vice-Chairman of the party for the South-East, Mr Nyerere as being responsible for their plight.

”We were reliably informed that Ngige and Okorocha have instructed that our Chairman who is Fabian Okonkwo and the rest of us from Abia State should not be accredited.

”We have been calling to inquire and we also have it on good authority that they are directly responsible for this. Our state chairman, has been making calls to find out what is wrong, but no answer has been provided,” he said.

Another delegate from Ebonyi State who identified himself as Christian Ali, told newsmen he was the secretary of the party in Ishielu local government.

He said,”There are two factions of APC in Ebonyi. One is led by Chief Ogbonnaya Onu while the other is led by Senator Julius Ucha and because of that, there seems to be a power tussle between the two of them.

”We conducted the state congresses and elected Hon Ben Nwobasi who belongs to Senator Ucha’s camp as chairman. Accreditation tags have not been handed over to us because the trio of Ngige, Ogbonnaya Onu and Okoroacha directed that the congress in Ebonyi be re-conducted.”

At the end of the convention Former governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, has been elected National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Also, interim National Secretary, Tijjani Tumsah emerged the substantive National Secretary after the withdrawal of Alhaji Kashim Imam from the race. His withdrawal was announced by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Though voting was still going on as at press time, indication to the fact that Oyegun is the new chairman emerged when no mention was made of the other remaining contestant, Chief Tom Ikimi.

Former governor of Bayelsa, Timipre Sylva had earlier announced his withdrawal from the race in the interest of the party.

With the development, what was still being awaited was his formal announcement as the substantive National Chairman of the party.

Similarly, former governor of Ekiti State and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decampee, Chief Segun Oni emerged Deputy National Chairman (South) unopposed. Oni occupied the same position in his former party before he was removed through a court order.

Former national secretary  of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Lawal Shuaibu was also returned unopposed as deputy national chairman (North).

The interim spokesperson of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed was also returned unopposed as national publicity secretary.

Oyegun’s emergence was said to be a product of an intense horse trading that culminated with the withdrawal of other contestants.

Virtually, the entire officers were returned through a consensus.

That notwithstanding, delegates were still voting to ratify the selection apparently to meet Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) guideline for party convention.

Voting commenced at 12:32am with delegates from Abia State, under the control of the chairman of the election subcommittee Alhaji Kawu Baraje who had read the number of contestants for each office.

Meanwhile, prominent members of the party who addressed the delegates before the commencement of voting said the 2015 elections is an opportunity for loyalists of the party to join hands in effecting a regime change at all tiers of government.