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The All Progressives Congress has warned the federal government against sacking the APC governors and other elected political officials in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

APCs Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed stated that it would not be in the interest of Nigeria for the Federal Government to sack those elected officials.

He also warned those he described as attempting to stampede President Goodluck Jonathan into such action, to have a rethink.

He spoke to journalists in Ilorin on Sunday on the sidelines of the emergence of APC Kwara State executives.

Mohammed said, The extension of the emergency rule will be between the President and the National Assembly.

The President cannot declare the emergency without securing two third majority of members of the National Assembly. There are certain issues to be considered by the National Assembly before they would grant the extension.

What is more worrisome is the call by some people to the effect that the democratic structures in those states should be dismantled and that the governors should be sacked.

When and how does a governor become an impediment to fighting insurgency? On the contrary, he cannot fight insurgency when the political structure is not in place.

So I hope those who are trying to stampede the President into sacking those governors will have a rethink because if they do, the consequences will not be in the interest of either the people you want to protect or the country.

The APC spokesman also advised the federal government to reach out to all governors in the country as a potent strategy to addressing the countrys insecurity challenges having gotten their assurances after the expanded security meeting.

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APC warns FG against sacking Adamawa, Yobe, Borno govs

The All Progressives Congress Rivers State chapter, on Saturday elected 36 officers as members of the state executive of the party.

The News Agency of Nigeria, reports that though the officers were elected by consensus, more than 2,000 delegates still cast ballot for them.

Chief Davies Ikanya was elected as Chairman while Chief Emeka Bekee was elected as Secretary.

Other officers elected are Mr Mike Nwielagha, Organising Secretary, Chris Finebone, Publicity Secretary and Dr Abel Tariah, Treasurer.

Mr Cosmos Maduba, the Chairman of the congress organising committee, said that the party was determined to elect officers that would turn its fortunes in the 2015 elections.

We are optimistic that the officers will make the party win the 2015 elections at the state and national levels, he said.

Mr Chris Finebone, newly elected state Publicity Secretary of the party, said that the officers would strive to win the 2015 election in the state.

Finebone said, We have a formidable team and we will work hard to win the 2015 election and continue to give our people quality leadership.

As you can see, the congress was free and fair, and we will carry on in that spirit, he said.

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Rivers APC gets state officers

President Goodluck Jonathan

The All Progressives Congress on Sunday urged the nations leaders led by President Goodluck Jonathan, to embrace global standard in good governance and thereby winning global respect for the country.

The party said this in a statement signed by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

The APC said the resignation of South Korean Prime Minister, Chung Hong-won, over his governments much-criticised poor handling of the April 16 ferry disaster that left over 300 dead or missing, must jolt the conscience of Nigerian leaders, who have been found wanting when they found themselves in similar situations.

The party said until our leaders hold themselves to higher standards, as it was being done in other democracies around the world, they would continue to perpetuate impunity, celebrate mediocrity and cling to power at all costs, even when it was clear that there were not serving any other interest but theirs.

According to the party, the resignation of the South Korean Prime Minister was the culmination of widespread public criticism of the government over the handling of the ferry disaster, especially the slow pace of recovery of the bodies of victims and the conflicting information given by the government over the tragedy.

It said the Prime Minister, also stepped down even though he had paid a visit to the families of the victims, just like the President of South Korea.

The statement partly read, Compare this with the situation in our country, where about 20 job seekers died in a stampede that was directly caused by poor planning and execution by a government agency on March 15, 2014, and for which the supervising minister blamed the victims instead of accepting responsibility.

Compare this with the aftermath of the killing of 75 citizens and wounding of over 200 in a bombing at a bus station in Nyanya, after which the President quickly embarked on an illegal campaign rally in Kano during which he was dancing Skelewu on the graves of the victims, or his trip to Ibadan for a birthday party.

Compare this with the business-as-usual posture of the Federal Government and the playing up of the controversy surrounding Tuesdays political rally by the PDP in Adamawa State, even as over 200 schoolgirls have continued to languish in the den of the insurgents in the Sambisa Forest.

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Emulate SKorean PM, APC tells Jonathan

He said that Paddy Ashdown was "not the only parliamentary party member whose secretary was valued for more than her typing skills", while another MP entertained "two attractive boys" in a "dodgy backstreet club" instead of attending a party event.

He recalled Smith as a "viciously mean bully", who used his "grotesque physical size" as a "form of intimidation".

However Lord Steel, the former Liberal leader, admitted last year that he had been aware of Cyril Smith's "unusual behaviour with boys" since 1979 but accepted his denials of wrongdoing.

In 1979 the Rochdale Alternative Press, a local magazine, published details of Smiths abuse at Cambridge House. A spokesman for Lord Steel, then leader of the Liberal Party: "All he seems to have done is spanked a few bare bottoms."

Mr Wilson said: "Was there a deliberate, cynical cover-up by the leadership? I am a believer in the cock-up theory of politics rather than the conspiracy one.

"I think they got the biggest spade they could find, dug the biggest hole in the sand they could manage, and buried their collective heads in it, hoping the rumours were unfounded or that it would all go away. In other words, it was cowardice rather than conspiracy."

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Liberals had too many 'guilty secrets' of their own to confront Cyril Smith

TORONTO - Ontario's governing Liberals or whichever party succeeds them should work with the private sector to deliver public services at less cost, former Liberal finance minister Dwight Duncan said Thursday.

The cash-strapped Liberals are running an $11.3-billion deficit and have doubled the debt to $272 billion since they took office in 2003.

Duncan, who was treasurer from 2007 to 2013 when the province racked up record deficits, said all three parties will be compelled to look at more efficient ways to provide services.

Ontario has a "staggering" debt, insufficient infrastructure, gridlock in the Toronto area and an aging population that will drive up health-care costs, he said.

But this isn't the "same old tired mantra of privatization," said Duncan, who left politics last year for the private sector.

"The idea is to save money while delivering the same services and being able to apply the savings to those priority areas, whatever priority areas the government of the day identifies," he said.

Many countries have saved money by working with private companies on prison management, health and administrative services, according to an Ontario Chamber of Commerce report that Duncan helped put together. But the province is lagging behind, it said.

Teranet, a private company that has a licence to provide electronic land registration services, is a success story, Duncan said. The Ontario government got $1 billion and 50 years of royalty payments in the deal and still controls fee increases, the report said.

But other deals were massive failures, such as Ontario's Ornge air ambulance service, a not-for-profit entity that ended up under police investigation for financial irregularities. The auditor general rapped the Liberals on the knuckles for failing to oversee Ornge, despite giving it hundreds of millions of dollars.

"I concur Ornge did not work out that well and there are bad deals done," Duncan said.

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Duncan urges Liberals to look to private sector