…as President threatens to deduct LG funds if govs fail to obey A’Court ruling on council’s autonomy
…declares state police a must, defeat of terrorists not negotiable
…says democracy must not fail, urges party leaders to be tolerant, accommodating
…APC lucky Tinubu not on opposition-Shettima
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Forum, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma, on Friday, passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu,
The motion for the confidence vote raised at the APC National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party held at the Conference Centre of the Presidential Villa was seconded by the Kaduna state governor, Uba Sani.
This came as the President threatened to deduct and transfer funds accruing to local governments directly from the source and send them directly to the local councils if the state governors refused to implement the Supreme Court ruling on the council autonomy.
Tinubu also declared that the establishment of state police was a must, even as he stressed that the war against terrorism and banditry must be won
The President said democracy must be protected by all means, urging that the party leadership must be tolerant and accommodating.
On local government autonomy, he said, “Like I said yesterday, know that you have your elections at the local government level. You are the supervisors, the vigilants, the INEC and everything of the local governments you elected them.
“Nobody helped you, the governors. Since you elected them, it means you know them, you are responsible for their survival, but the Supreme Court has curbed it for you again, saying, give them their money directly. So if you wait for my Executive Order because I have the knife, I have the yam, I will cut it before.
“If we do the arithmetic, we know the percentage, and I’ve said it to the RMAFC, I’m just being very respectful and understanding with my governors. Otherwise, if you don’t start to implement it, FAAC after FAAC, you will see.
The ultimate no is our Supreme Court. We have to comply. We have to respect the judgment.”
On the establishment of state police, he told the governors: “Please summon the IG and start looking at the ramifications and which way to institute controls and prevent abuses.
“We are going to the state police. I would do the forest rangers. We will have them. We will defeat those terrorists and bandits.”
The President, in his comments on the party, said the leadership should be accommodating, urging them not to joke with its e-registration exercise.
He urged never to discountenance the God factor in the leadership selection process, describing his emergence as the President despite all the hurdles placed on his way ahead of the 2023 elections as the work of God.
He said, “God got us here. I am a symbol of that God, because without him, I won’t be here.”
“We must continue to be resolute that this democracy that we take in our hands must not fail. To me, we say we are bigger. Yes, we are larger, and we are taller, but it is in our hands now to be accommodating. That’s the only way we can be resilient, be tolerant,
move a little bit.
“I listened to the chairman on the e-registration. Allow it. No elbow. Don’t shut the door against the people you are in charge of. Now, if you fail to do so, we’ll take it away. We know how to do it.
“We’ll do it on your behalf. When we do it on your behalf, that’s leadership failure on your own part if you abuse the trust.
So please don’t let us joke with it. We have a need for that E registration.”
The President also warned the National Assembly to steer clear of making laws outside the exclusive warning that, where they detailed, he would, with old assent, to whatever law so passed.
He specifically warned the lawmakers against passing any law on lotto or lottery, warning that he would never sign such a law.
