Former Head of State, Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami (retd) has urged the Federal Government to dialogue with militant groups in the Niger Delta.
Abdulsalami said this when he received members of the Niger State House of Assembly who visited him on his 74th birthday in Minna.
“All we need do is to sit down on a roundtable and discuss these problems. Even if you fight a war and win, you must sit down with the people you conquered. The insecurity we are going through now is uncalled for. For Boko Haram, nobody knows what they want.
“The Niger Delta Avengers are now out, what are they avenging?’’ he asked.
Abdulsalami decried a situation where the people are going through hardship because of the activities of Boko Haram insurgents, NDA and Biafra agitators.
The former head of state said there was need for the NDA “to understand that they are destroying their land by blowing up of oil pipes, leading to oil spillage.” He said the action of the avengers had brought crude oil production to the lowest level in decades. Abdulsalami advised NDA against vandalism and said it would negatively affect the 13 per cent derivation accruing to the region due to sharp decline in oil revenue. “I hope they will come back to their senses and let us try to give this country peace. We do not deserve what we are going through. We need peace and I am begging everybody in the spirit of Ramadan.”
Whatever religion anybody is following, please let us give peace a chance’’, he said Alhaji Ahmed Marafa, Speaker of the assembly, expressed gratitude to God for using the former head of state to restore democracy to Nigeria. Marafa described Abdulsalami as an illustrious son of the state whose counsel had guided the assembly in legislating for good governance in the interest of the people. He said they came to wish the former head of state well as he attained 74 years of age on Monday.
Don’t sell your property to contest LG polls, Ortom warns aspirants
From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Ahead of the forthcoming council polls in Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom has advised aspirants to be wary of selling property in order to participate in the election slated for September 10.
“I want to appeal to those contesting in the forthcoming local government election in the state not to sell their property to contest because the money is no longer there.”
The governor, who handed down the warning at the Benue People’s House yesterday, appealed to interested contestants to seek the support of the electorate instead of buying votes. He said elections should not be seen as a do or die affair.
I did not buy votes from people and that is why nobody can toss me around today. Don’t mortgage yourselves to anyone. Be a free man. Election is not a do or die affair,” the governor said. He also harped on the need to allow zoning arrangement to supersede personal interest so that the best candidate, who had been picked from whichever zone, is allowed to take the slot. “People should allow zoning so that the electorate can be allowed to bring forward their best choice for the job. Accept the choice of the people.”
Ortom said talks of elections in 2019 is “a distraction,” even as he urged people to stop talking to him about it to enable him concentrate on giving Benue people the desired good governance.