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The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation has described the claims by the President Jonathan-led administration that a high speed Abuja-Lagos rail service will begin operations within three years as a hoax.

According to the organisation, having an effective rail service would reduce the cost of moving goods and services within the country.

The campaign organisation however said although the envisaged Lagos-Abuja line, as proposed by the Minister of Transport, was most desirable, it was the height of irresponsibility for a senior member of government to tell such outlandish lies and give false hope to score cheap political points.

This was contained in a statement by the campaigns Director of Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Thursday.

Shehu explained that a Public Private Partnership agreement to build and operate a rail line would take at least two years to negotiate and bring to financial closure.

He added that the Jonathan government had yet to even start negotiations with anybody on the project.

The statement partly read, Before they can start construction, they will need to secure the right of way and pay land compensation along that corridor. This could take years to accomplish. Then they will have to construct the line. But a look at the governments record only confirms that this is nothing but a pipe dream. Just 186km Abuja to Kaduna, an ordinary standard gauge line, has taken six years to construct and it is not even finished yet, regardless of their false claims of completion. Ajaokuta to Warri has taken the government nearly 30 years. Just the last 27km has taken this government six years and it is not finished yet. Rehabilitation of existing rail lines, which they promised would take 10 months, took them four years and they are still not finished yet. The campaign organisation added, Is it the 600-km electrified rail tracks that they can build in three years? Then they have to order the rolling stock and operations equipment. These are not off-the-shelf items. They will need to be manufactured, over say another two years. A high speed rail line means electric trains, so they will need a dedicated IPP with transmission and distribution. When will that come together? What about the gas supply and infrastructure or they will import more expensive diesel? So how are they going to build a 600-km electrified high speed line and put it into operation in just three years?

Shehu pointed out that it was either the minister did not know what he was talking about or he was deceiving Nigerians.

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Lagos-Abuja high speed rail, a hoax APC campaign

The All Progressives Congress has said the partys leadership and members will not be intimidated by the latest antics of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to harass and intimidate the party, especially in the run-up to next months general elections.

In a statement in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the recent military siege toAPC National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubus residence and the Imo State Government House and the police harassment of APCs Presidential Campaign spokesman Garba Shehu, fit perfectly into this emerging pattern.

The party said, As the elections approach, we know the harassment and intimidation will be stepped up. We know our leaders, including the National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, former Governor Timipre Sylva, Senator Bukola Saraki and National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed, are under surveillance and their phones being hacked.

We are aware that several of them, especially the National Publicity Secretary, have been marked down for arrest in the days to come. We know there are evil plots to frame some of them on trumped-up charges. We know our lives are in danger. But these and more will not deter us from continuing to act in the national interest or from seeking to effect change through the ballot box.

Yes, we are alerting Nigerians that if anything happens to us, they should know where it is coming from, but for us, there is no going back because we are resolute.

APC commended Nigerians for their immense and unwavering support, especially since the postponement of the elections, which the party argued was aimed at dampening the enthusiasm of the citizens, urging them not to relent.

We are glad that instead of weakening the resolve and enthusiasm of Nigerians, the Presidency-orchestrated postponement has further galvanised them to be more determined not only to vote but also to defend their votes.

Nigerians must demand and insist that the elections be held as rescheduled, that there will be no interim government or tenure elongation. Nigerians have the power to forge change with their voters card and no one must deny them that right, the party said.

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You cant intimidate us, APC tells Jonathan

February 12, 2015 by Sunday Aborisade, Abuja 12 Comments

The spokesman for the All Progressives Congress members in the senate, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, on Thursday, denied alleging that Senate President, David Mark, secretly met with senators seeking their support for the extension of President Goodluck Jonathans tenure beyond May 29, 2015.

Rather, Ojudu, who issued a statement in Abuja said he merely observed while making a speech at an event that Marks statement which stressed the need to win the insurgency war first before talking about the election, made him to believe that the elections would be postponed.

He said,My attention has been drawn to a report in ThisDay newspaper that quoted me to have said that the Senate President Senator David Mark called Senators to a meeting to request their support for the extension of the regimes tenure.

I never said that. What I said was that when we came back from last years summer break the president gave a speech where he said, left to him the defeat of Boko Haram should be the nations priority now and not an election.

And I said from that moment on I began to feel that the elections as fixed for February may not hold since the nation may not have overcome Boko Haram by then.

This was the only time I mentioned Mark in the close to 30 minutes speech that I gave. I called the reporter Mr Gboyega Adesanmi to complain about this earlytodayat about 5.00amand he promised to make amends.

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Mark never met senators on tenure elongation Ojudu

Progressives general concets

By: Kerry Green

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Progressives general concets - Video

The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has told Christian clerics that he cannot Islamise the nation.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday, Buhari said this during a meeting with Catholic bishops at the Pope John Paul Centre in Abuja.

Buhari said he would always put Nigeria first if elected into office, adding that when he ruled Nigeria between December 1983 and August 1985, he did not impose Islam on any individual.

He said having served in the military, he had been posted in several parts of the country and served alongside people of different religions and tribes.

He said the Peoples Democratic Party had succeeded in misrepresenting him to the Christian community because they could not sell their candidate

He said, I would like to solemnly declare that in spite of what our detractors say, I am not a religious fanatic of any sort and I have never been. In all my life, I have never supported extremism of any kind. Indeed, it is very unfortunate and I feel extremely sad that I have to give this type of assurance.

My background is in the army, and there is no doubt that the military is the most integrated pan-Nigerian institution. And even today, the military is one of the institutions that represents the pride of our nations possibilities in unity.

Compatriots from every corner of this country come together, work and live together, entrust their lives to each other and integrate their families. It is a military where many of my dearest friends, from all faiths and parts of the country, lost their lives defending the unity of our nation. That was the military I served in, and in that military it was impossible to be a bigot.

He said in governance, competence should always come before religion and that was why as head of state, he appointed 11 Christians as governors out of the 19 states.

He said religion comes from personal conviction and should never be used to gain political advantage.

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I cant Islamise Nigeria, Buhari tells Christian leaders