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National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, John Odigie-Oyegun

The All Progressives Congress has released its timetable for the nomination of candidates for elective offices on the party platform.

According to the timetable seen by our correspondent in Abuja, on Sunday, the expression of interest forms for all offices will go on sale as from Monday, October 6, 2014.

Those interested in seeking the partys nomination to stand in the presidential, governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly are expected to pick their forms between October 6 and 19, 2014.

Sale of nomination forms for presidential aspirants will commence on October 20 and end on November 6, 2014.

Screening of Presidential aspirants has been slated for between November 10 and 13 while November 14 and 15 are for appeals. The partys national convention is slated for Tuesday, December 2, 2014.

The sale of nomination forms for those interested in the governorship race is slated for between October 20 and November 9, 2014.

Screening of aspirants will hold as from November 10 to 12, 2014 while appeals have been slated for between November 13 and 14, 2014.

Governorship primaries is to hold on Saturday, November 15 , 2014 while appeals emanating from the primaries will be entertained as from November 18 to 22, 2014.

Sale of nomination forms for senatorial aspirants will begin on October 20 and end on November 17, 2014, while their screening will hold between November 19 and 20, 2014.

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APC releases timetable for party primaries

The All Progressives Congress has warned those nursing the plan to postpone the 2015 general elections to perish the thought, saying Nigerians will not accept, under any guise whatsoever, any scheme by desperate elected officials to get tenure elongation by subterfuge.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said those who are flying the kite of pushing forward the election ostensibly because the nation is at war are trying to imperil the nations democracy.

Election is the lifeblood of democracy, the mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates. It is the only way for the citizenry to renew and refresh the governing process so they can get the most benefits out of democracy. Therefore, anyone that tries to sabotage this mechanism is aiming a dagger straight at the heart of democracy, it said.

APC said the statement credited to Senate President David Mark, that thereis no question of elections, it is not even on the table now. We are in a state of war, reflects the thinking in government circles, even though the Senate President, having run into a wall of opposition over his unfortunate statement, has tried to step back from the comments.

We in the APC saw this coming, and we have said it at several fora: That the Jonathan Administration has deliberately allowed the insurgency in the North-east, an opposition stronghold, to fester so he can cash in on it to get re-elected. Simply put, the Administration has been playing dirty politics with Boko Haram, at the expense of the lives and property of the citizenry and the well-being of the nation.

However, the Administration is being too clever by half to think that Nigerians will reward it for its failure in its main reason for existence, which is the protection of the welfare and security of the citizens. There is just no way this government will be allowed to profit from its ineptness and its conspiracy to prolong an insurgency that should have ended a long time ago, the party said.

It said the statement by INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega, that the commission has started preparing for elections even in the North-east, represents a ray of hope, but warned the electoral body to remain steadfast and not to cave in to what will be massive pressure from the Jonathan Administration and its gong beaters to scuttle the 2015 elections.

APC said just like Jega has said, countries like Afghanistan and Iraq successfully held elections even though they are in a state of war, hence there is no reason why Nigeria cannot organize elections because of the insurgency in a part of the country.

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APC opposes plot to shift 2015 elections

General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar

Aspirants for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress have been intensifying their moves to win delegates support during the partys primary, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.

A former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have gone head to head in the battle to sway delegates should the partys consensus option of choosing its presidential candidate fails.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that Buhari camp had been seriously reaching out to APC chieftains across the country to ensure the former Head of State was picked as a consensus candidate, while Atiku had been holding series of consultative meetings with stakeholders such as governors, party leaders at state and local government levels.

Atiku had on Tuesday held a closed door meeting with the APC Senate caucus in his Abuja residence.

Although details of the meeting were not made public, Saturday PUNCH gathered that the former vice- president intimated his guests about his desire to fly the party flag.

It was gathered that the APC is not leaving anything to chance.

A section of the APC is working on the assumption that President Goodluck Jonathan has firm grip of the South-South and the South-East and its candidate should be able to hold the North-West and the North-East. Buharis strategists are confident that their principal has effective grip of these two regions taking into account his performance during the 2011 elections.

The Buhari camp is very confident of block votes from sections of the country where the party enjoys a large following.

By their calculations in the North -West, delegates from Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara will vote for their candidate, in the North-East, delegates from Borno and Yobe and parts of Bauchi states and Gombe State will also cast their lot with the retired general.

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APC ticket: Buhari, Atiku seek delegates support

Emails making the rounds among leftist voices show former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton might not be the shoe-in Democratic presidential pick after all many consider too hawkish and far too buddy-buddy with Wall Street.

The emails, obtained by The Hill, show a growing dissatisfaction among progressives.

The progressives have formed a group called Gamechanger Salon, and its made up of roughly 1,500 activists, journalists and political watchers who trade thoughts and policy proposals and discuss the looming White House run.

And the general consensus is Mrs. Clinton is not their first choice.

Some of the emailers criticized her hawkish tendencies, The Hill reported. Others chided her as a Wall Street wanna-be or at the very least, a friend of Big Business. And still others say shes not done enough to press for climate change policy reforms, The Hill said.

[A] Clinton presidency un-dos all our progress and returns the financial interests to even more prominence than they currently have, wrote Melissa Byrne, an Occupy Wall Street activist, in a November 2013 email, The Hill reported.

Many more would rather see an Elizabeth Warren presidency though the Massachusetts senator has publicly stated several times her refusal to run.

The establishment Dems need to be punished and the best way for that to happen is for Warren to beat Hillary in the primary on a populist message, wrote Carl Gibson, a progressive activist and Occupy.com writer, The Hill reported.

And even though some of the emails are months old, the call from the progressive camp for Mrs. Clinton to stand down her White House aspirations if they even exist has only grown stronger, The Hill reported.

Concerns havent changed, and progressives are probably more worried at this point rather than less, said Mike Lux, one of the website groups active members, to the Hill.

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Hillary Clinton blasted by the left in secret emails

Fotmer Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi

A former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has lamented the decay in the education sector, insisting that no political party in the country has a framework for education.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance leader said this at the 2014 Founders Day Lecture which was held in commemoration of the 105th anniversary of Kings College in Lagos on Thursday.

He said, Today, I do not think any party in Nigeria has a vision about education; that is the truth. I am a politician and I belong to a political party but I can tell you that there is none that has a plan and I can back this up with the statistics of the result of WASSCE (West African Senior School Certificate Examination).

When Tony Blair (ex-United Kingdom Prime Minister) was campaigning, he emphasised education and when he got there, he dealt squarely with the issue of education. Here we promise one thing when we are campaigning but deliver another thing when we are in office.

The former governor added that one of the reasons why Nigerias standard of education was low was not because of lack of funds but the governments inability to effectively monitor the usage of funds which goes into the pockets of third parties instead of the schools that need them.

He boasted that he discontinued the trend in Anambra State and the state came first in WASSCE nationwide.

In Nigeria, all we talk about is minimum wage and not minimum productivity. People are paid better here than in Ghana and other countries and yet they produce more. In Anambra we did not increase funds but only increased the monitoring. The money went where we wanted it to go, he said.

At the event themed, Vision for Education in Nigeria, the chairmen of both the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party were supposed to speak on the vision of their respective parties in the area of education.

While the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, was represented by a former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Segun Oni; the PDP National Chairman, Adamu Muazu, did not attend and sent no representative.

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No political party has plan for education Obi