Saboteurs won’t be allowed to lead 9th National Assembly, says Presidency

The Presidency on Wednesday disclosed that President Muhammadu
Buhari and his government will not allow the emergence of saboteurs
in the leadership of the ninth National Assembly (NASS).

This was disclosed by a senior aide to the President on a
condition of anonymity.

According to him, the President will ensure that only persons
selected by the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working
Committee (NWC) emerge as President of the Senate and other
presiding officers of both the red and green chambers.

Even as he declared the President has no preferred candidates
for the position of the principal officer of the parliament, he
said that he is ready and willing to support the decision of the
leadership of the party in line with worked out zoning
arrangements.

He said the presidency had never had it smooth with the
relationship that existed between it and the leadership of the 8th
National Assembly and will therefore not sit to fold its arms while
another set of unfriendly characters emerge in the next
dispensation.

He said: “Be rest assured that the President will not
micro-manage the process electing the National Assembly leadership
but he will not allow the lawlessness that happened in 2015 to
repeat itself.

“The President will allow the decision of the party to remain
supreme. Once the party zones the positions, he will give maximum
support to it.

“It is not like before, now, the decision of the party is
supreme. You see what has happened to the two governors. In the
past, this won’t have been possible.

“What I can tell you is that the President doesn’t have any
preferred candidates,” he said.

At the beginning of the eight parliament, both Senate President,
Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu
Dogara, had emerged against the arrangement of the APC
leadership.

2019 Elections: NAF Deploys ISR Aircraft for
Intelligence Gathering

NAF Air Officers at meeting with CAS

In line with the directives of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS),
General Abayomi Olonisakin, to all Services on the need to ensure
peaceful conduct of the forthcoming Gubernatorial and States’ House
of Assembly elections, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air
Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has directed Air Officers Commanding
(AOCs) and field commanders to ensure safety of lives and
properties in their various locations.

This is in addition to the deployment of NAF aircraft, including
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, to
various flash points in support of the Nigeria Police and other
security agencies for the peaceful conduct of the elections.

The CAS stated this during his operational briefing to Principal
Staff Officers (PSOs) and AOCs held today, 6 March 2019, at the
Headquarters, NAF Abuja. The meeting also afforded the AOCs the
opportunity to give updates on the level of preparedness and the
security arrangements put in place for the conduct of the elections
in their various areas of responsibilities (AORs).

During the meeting, Air Marshal Abubakar noted that contingency
plans have been emplaced in case of any break down of law and order
while NAF Hospitals and medical centres have been put on alert to
assist in attending to any medical emergencies. The CAS emphasized
that the responsibility of Commanders is to ensure security of
lives and property of Nigerians. He noted that no excuse would be
tolerated for any failure in this regard.

He also reminded AOCs that they must ensure that all NAF
personnel remain professional in the discharge of their duties
whilst ensuring that no individual or group of individuals is
allowed to undermine the electoral process.

He stressed that NAF personnel must endeavour to operate in
accordance with the Code of Conduct promulgated by Defence
Headquarters (DHQ) for members of the Armed Forces during
elections. They must sternly resist any entreaties by unscrupulous
politicians to get involved in partisan politics. Air Marshal
Abubakar therefore urged all eligible voters to come out en-masse
to vote for the candidates of their choice.

The CAS also noted that, as part of its constitutional role of
providing aid to civil authority, the NAF assisted the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) in successfully airlifting a
total of 633,790 Kg of electoral materials to 31 different
locations across the country from 12 February to 3 March 2019. He
highlighted that 8 NAF aircraft were employed in the airlift
operation, flying a total of about 340 hours in 257 sorties with
about 120 crew members involved, comprising pilots, technicians and
other specialties operating on an almost round the clock basis.

IBIKUNLE DARAMOLA
Air Commodore
Director of Public Relations and Information
Nigerian Air Force