The Nation Newspaper

Category: Politics

  • ‘Judiciary must avoid being used by politicians’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi has urged the judiciary not to allowed itself to be used by politicians to scuttle democracy.

    He said the recent court injunction obtained by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to prevent the change of the leadership in the House of Representatives was a strategy by the party to buy time.

    Olusi told The Nation at a graduation ceremony of artisans organised by the Apapa Local Government Area, that if the court becomes a ready tool in the hands of politicians, the country’s democracy will suffer.

    He said: “The court injunction obtained is part of the effort of people who do not want democracy to thrive in our country. The judiciary must resist the temptation of people who tried to use this arm of government to slow down the progress of democracy in our country.”

    The APC chieftain maintained that the constitution has spelt out the roles of the judiciary and the legislature, stressing that one should not usurp the functions of the other.

    “I know that it is stated in the constitution of the country that the court has no jurisdiction over the business of the House or the proceedings in the House. It has no business on how the House elects its officers. By this action, it is getting out of its jurisdiction. That being the case, the court should avoid the temptation of being used.

    He called on party faithful to take part in the registration exercise in enable the party effect the necessary change that will move the country forward.

    “The registration is a must for those who believe in change for Nigeria. It is important for those who want Nigeria to advance and those who want democracy to be entrenched in the country. People should go out and register as members of this progressive movement.”

    “This will ensure that the party is firmly established and in order to ensure that the party towers in 2015. By doing so, the change that will route out the present PDP government in our country will be accomplished.

    We are all aware that PDP is a party of retrogression, it a party that has not been able to give us power and light which is important for industrialization. For over a decade the country has been crawling from one problem to another, it is time the change that the people want come and I urge our members to register,” he said.

     

  • Mu’azu and challenge of reconciliation in PDP

    Mu’azu and challenge of reconciliation in PDP

    Reconciliation of various groups within the troubled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a major challenge for the new helmsman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, to contend with. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the crises and its implications on the party’s cohesion ahead of the 2015 elections.

    The new National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, has promised to reconcile various factions within the party. From its inception, the ruling party has been grappling with crises. Chieftains have often fuelled the tension in the polity through internal wranglings, which the party leadership has always failed to resolve, owing to the absence of a strategic crisis resolution mechanism and what observers describe as defective reconciliation.

    The crises are largely due to its size , lack of internal democracy and poor management by the party’s leadership. In the last one year, the crises have soared geometrically, resulting in the exit of some of its foundation and influential members.

    Analysts believe that the intractable crises are fuelled by the ambitions of the party leaders, who consider themselves as tin gods whose decisions must not be challenged.

    The party has in the last 15 years set up various panels to resolve crises among members and save the party from total disintegration. But rather than achieve reconciliation and cohesion, the party has sunk deeper into trouble.

    Unless the multiple crises are resolved, Analysts are of the view that the efforts of the chairman to rebuild and unite the dissenting groups within the party would fail, unless the crises are resolved.

     

    Jonathan versus Obasanjo

     

    The crisis between the former President olusegun Obasanjo and the incumbent President Jonathan climaxed with the 18-page letter in which Obasanjo alleged Jonathan of training snippers, placing 1,000 politicians on watch list and anti-party activities among others. Though Jonathan has denied most of the allegations but the content of the Obasanjo’s letter is still causing ripples within the party. The President has sent the letter to the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the allegations. The diatribe launched by Obasanjo has earned him series of attacks in the media by the President’s aides and kinsmen . Irked by the reactions Obasanjo wrote the former Chairman of the PDP , Alhaji BamangaTukur, informing him of his decision to withdraw from party activities until further notice. The implication of Obasanjo’s decision to step aside is that he may not take part in the campaign programmes of the party for general elections holding early next year. Observers say given Obasanjo’s status, his involvement in the party’s preparation and his physical appearance at campaign rallies would boost the party’s electoral fortunes in 2015 polls.

     

    Jonathan & G5

     

    Former five governors of the PDP have defected to All Progressives Congress (APC). They are Governors Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and AbdulFattah Ahmed (Kwara). Their defection was premised on what they desribed as high handedness, lack of internal democracy and transparency in the management of party affairs. Despite the removal of Tukur as party chairman , the governors have vowed not to return to PDP. Can the new Chairman bring them back to PDP?

     

    PDP versus Oyinlola & others

     

    The sack of the PDP national officers loyal to Obasanjo triggered the crisis between him and President Jonathan.The affected officers sent packing by court order are the National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Vice Chairman, Southwest zone, Mr Segun Oni, National Auditor, Bode Mustapha and former Southwest Zonal Financial Secretary, Chief Ireti Oniyide. Oyinlola appealed against the ruling of the Federal High Court. The Appeal Court in its ruling declared Oyinlola as the authentic national secretary and ordered his immediate reinstatement. The Ogun State chapter that challenged the appointment of Oyinlola at the lower court has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court. Thus, Oyinlola had been prevented from resuming work as directed by the Appelate court. Would Muazu allow the rule of law to prevail by abiding with the court ruling and allow Oyinlola back to office?

    Oni and Oniyide have filed suits at Ado Ekiti High Court challenging their removal from office. The case is still pending. Both Oyinlola and Oni were former governors of Osun and Ekiti States respectively. PDP stands to lose their electoral values in these states if reconciliation fails.

    There is no geo-political zone where the PDP is crisis-free.

    The Southwest zone of the PDP is at a crossroads. The reconciliation embarked upon by the former Caretaker Committee led by Chief Ishola Filani has failed to restore peace and trust. The Southwest zonal congress has not been held because of the leadership tussle and selfish interest of the leaders. The existence of caretaker committee, instead of a democratically elected zonal leadership is a proof that the zonal chapter is in crisis.

    The bitter struggle for the control of the party soul is also fierce among the party chieftains in the South-south and Southeast. Unresolved party matters including the politics of exclusion, winners take all and emasculation of opponents in intra-party squabbles have bothered the founding fathers in the zone. Many party elders blame the scenario on the weakness of the national party leadership and the inability of the President to restore order into a state of unrest.

    In the Northeast, local crises in Taraba, Bauchi, Borno and Gombe states fuelled by the competition for the control of the branches by party chieftains have polarized the party.

     

    Ogun

     

    In Ogun State PDP is divided alongside many factions. There is a faction loyal to former President Obasanjo. The Buruji Kasamu group is in control of the party machinery in the state. The recommendation of the reconciliation committee set up by the national secretariat of the party that the state executive be sharedbetween the two groups was rejected by the Kashamu group. The Obasanjo faction has lost out completely in the struggle for the soul of the party. Chief Bode Mustapha, a loyalist of Obasanjo lost his position as the National Auditor to the struggle.

     

    Ekiti

     

    The party is balkanized into splinter groups loyal to various chieftains including the former governors Segun Oni, Mr Ayo Fayose , the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd) and Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, who is the party chairman in the state.The crisis escalated during the preparation for the congress. Fayose succeeded in installing the majority of the executive committee members. A parallel executive supported by the camps opposed to him challenged Ogundipe to a duel.But when he fully gained control, crisis broke out between Ogundipe and his benefactor, Fayose.

    For Segun Oni, since he was removed from the National Executive as the National Vice Chairman and Southwest leader, the former governor has remained cold. His supporters have been bitter against some party leaders from the state, who claimed that the zonal congress that produced him as National Vice Chairman (Southwest) in Oshogbo, Osun State, violated the laid down rules. However, the main issue in Ekiti PDP now is the governorship election holding this year. A section of the party is rooting for a consensus candidate but others are insisting on party primaries. The opposing groups have clashed many times on this unresolved issue. Many sustained injuries.

     

    Ondo

     

    The party chieftains are bitter that they have been abandoned since 2008 when late Olusegun Agagu was removed from office as governor by the Appeal Court. To survive, some of them leaned to the Labour Party (LP) . Thus, during the 2012 governorship election, they worked against the PDP candidate, Chief Olusola Oke who lost to Olusegun Mimiko of the LP. The decision to disown Oke led to the factionalisation of the party in the state. Despite the complaints lodged by Oke, the national headquarters did nothing to whip the pro-Mimiko’s supporters in the PDP to line.

     

    Benue

     

    In Benue State, Governor Gabriel Suswan and Senator Bernabas Gemade are embroiled in war of attrition over their senatorial ambitions. The party has broken into factions at the local government level ahead of 2015 general elections. The local government congresses held last year were marred with violence instigated by different factions within the party.Governor Suswan has declared interest in taking over the senatorial seat currently occupied by Senator Bernabas Gemade. While Gemade is rooting for second term.

     

    Osun

     

    Prince Oyinlola believed certain PDP stalwarts were behind his removal as national secretary of the party. The strained relationship between him and Chief Iyiola Omisore is obvious.In Oyinlola’s view, the decision to replace him with Prof Wale Ladipo was made in bad faith at a time he was still in court to reclaim the seat. Besides, the governorship election holding this year has led to a division within the party. Apart from Omisore’s camp, there are groups loyal to Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, Hon Wole Oke, Chief Fatai Akinbade and Niyi Owolade.

     

    Lagos

     

    All is not well with the Lagos chapter. It has recorded the highest turn-over of chairmen. From the pioneer chairman Chief Olorunfemi Bashorun to Alhaji Murtala Asorobi, Chief Alaba Williams, Bayo Adebayo, Hon Setonji Koshoedo and Captain Tunji Shelle, the party has never known peace. Many party chieftains believe that the problem of the party has to do with the leadership style of Chief Bode George. Key party leaders are up in arms with the retired Navy Commodore. They have accused him of imposition of governorship candidate in the 2011 election, preventing proper congresses from holding at the ward, local government and state levels. The relationship between George’s supporters and other caucuses led by Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Dr Yomi Finnih and Chief Rafiu Jafojo is frosty.

     

    Failed reconciliation attempts

    Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on assumption of office in 2007, constituted an 11-member National Reconciliation Committee headed by the Second Republic Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, to bring back the aggrieved members who dumped the party over the imposition of party’s presidential candidate for the general elections. The partial implementation of the committee’s report led to the return of former Vice President Atiku and few others but Chief Audu Ogbeh and Senator George Akume among others refused to return to the party.

    Alhaji Tukur in March 2012 set up an eight-member committee headed by Chief Graham Douglas to reconcile the feuding members in Kano State. In spite of the committee’s effort, the PDP remained factionalised until late last year when Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso defected to APC.

    Similarly, Tukur mandated a committee led by Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun to settle the rift among the members in Benue State. The report of the committee notwithstanding, the crisis in Benue still persists.

    The Sule Lamido committee failed to reconcile the Governor Murtala Nyako and Tukur factions in Adamawa. The Ishola Filani panel did not succeed in uniting aggrieved party members in the Southwest. Also, the Ibrahim Shema committee set up by the PDP Governors Forum could not assuage the loyalists of former President Obasanjo following their exit from the National Executive Committee (NEC).

    The 30-member committee headed by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state mandated by the party to harmonise interests and achieve genuine reconciliation was doomed from start. Aggrieved party members insisted that Dickson, a protege of President Jonathan, was a wrong person to be a member of the committee let a lone being the chairman.

    Analysts say reconciliation demands an impartial and neutral arbiter that would provide confidence and truce to the two contending sides, that will make it possible for both sides to sit down on the table and address their differences.

     

  • Between EFCC and new PDP boss

    Between EFCC and new PDP boss

    It is no longer news to say former Bauchi State Governor, Adamu Muazu, is now the new helmsman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but one thing that remains news is how the matter he has with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) will be resolved.

    Or is it that the matter which was in public domain for a long time now, has finally been resolved? Because since the emergence of Muazu as the new PDP boss, not a few Nigerians have been waiting to hear what the anti-graft body has to say on his elevation its to such a position.

    But mum has been the word from EFCC which not too long ago declared that it has not cleared former Bauchi State Governor  of corruption charges.

    The EFCC in a statement back then debunked reports that suggested the anti-graft agency had concluded investigation on the corruption charges against the former governor and found nothing against him.

    The anti-graft body said it had to issue the clarification as a response to persistent enquiries coming from members of the press and the general public on the alleged clearance given to Muazu.

    But in spite of similar “persistent enquiries coming from members of the press and the general public,” since Muazu was crowned as national chairman of President Jonathan’s political party, the EFCC is yet to find its voice.

  • Pdp defections: A pointer to APC take over in 2015

    Pdp defections: A pointer to APC take over in 2015

    The gale of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressive Congress, APC has been received by many commentators with mixed feelings. While some brazenly wave the defectors aside with uncouth commentaries, others have seen it as the desired light at the end of the tunnel for Nigeria’s chequered history. The PDP has suffered very serious depletion lately and the gale has not ended. Many more are warming up to dump the party that has prided itself for too long as the largest political party in Africa. Some of its members had boasted to citizens that the party will rule Nigeria for sixty unbroken years.

    The nation’s political landscape is daily becoming interesting with increasing dumping of the Peoples Democratic Party by its erstwhile loyalists. In the PDP of today, there is apathy, distrust, hatred, oppression, favouritism, impunity, dog -eat -dog, and several other negative attributes.

    But events of the last six months have seen the PDP high and mighty already jittery as we approach 2015 general election where the APC hopes to take over the leadership of the nation.  From the letter of former President / PDP BoT Chairman, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan and the reply of the letter by Mr. President, and all the letters that followed thereafter indicate a PDP House of Commotion with several cracks. To stave off the obvious catastrophe of the dipping party, President Jonathan plans to change his cabinet any moment from now.  Last week, he had to sack his entire service chiefs and the Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur whose tenure was largely characterised by unlimited crises of various shapes and sizes was also pushed away. All who had defected from the party had insisted on the ouster of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur but a defiant Jonathan had insisted on keeping him on as his core ally whom he believes will give him the much sort after second term. But the rest today is history.

    Before President Goodluck Jonathan could spell Jack Robinson, the party under his watchful eyes had broke into two factions- One led by Bamanga Tukur and a splinter group led by Alhaji Abubakar Baraje.  From one litigation to another and from one funny court verdict upon another, the new PDP moved en masse into the APC. Five Governors of Kwara, Rivers, Sokoto, Kano, and Adamawa and their loyalists soon after defected to the APC. This shook the PDP to its foundations. Two other Governors of Niger and Jigawa who were part of the G7 Governors offered to tarry awhile.

    Only recently, 49 members of the House of Representatives formally dumped the PDP and joined the All Progressive Congress which has altered the equation at the House. Today APC stands majority! A similar scenario is playing out at the Senate where more than 22 senators had gone to court to challenge the plot to declare their seats vacant should they defect to the APC. This move and fear of the APC has stalled the resumption of the Senate after the Christmas holidays.

    The consequence of bad leadership and greed in the PDP is now face-to-face with all card carrying members of the party, including those who have been boasting of being the alpha and omega of the nation.

    The reasons for what has killed the PDP are not farfetched.  Leaders of a party in power ought to have listening ears from the generality of its members, this seems to be lacking in the crisis-ridden party.

    Those who left the PDP had told Nigerians that “In gross violation of the PDP constitution, which stipulates that the NEC meeting must hold at least once in a quarter, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and a few people have been running the party like a personal fiefdom without recourse to that important decision-making organ of the party.” Another issue is that the PDP leaders have no regards for the party’s constitution. Several incidences abound where national officers are removed by a state chapters with the backing of the National secretariat and the presidency.

    Again, the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike has been accused by the defectors of hiding on the back of the President to unleash mayhem in Rivers State. The Presidency have continued to deny having hand in the madness in Rivers State where, even the Nigeria Police, Force, Rivers State Command appear to be the official head office of the PDP! What a shame!

    But assuredly, the APC is set to take over the affairs of this country as it is gaining popularity by the day. More and more Nigerians are pouring into the party as its nationwide membership registration gets under way.  The APC is already showing to Nigerians that it has the x-factor to take over the governance of the country from the decadent PDP. More importantly, the APC will throw up candidates with experience in governance, candidates with energy, candour and spirit to surmount the nation’s myriad socio-economic and political problems.

    Unarguably, the APC is already providing the right alternatives in the states it is currently controlling. In Edo, ably led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole there are ample evidence of good governance and accountable leadership. Lagos is being properly transformed by Babatunde Fasola, Imo is being remodeled by Chief Rochas Okorocha and so on.  Clearly, APC’s emergence is for all Nigerians to get away from unfulfilled promises of the PDP, clean break away from abject poverty, disease and squalor and return of confidence to citizens.  The APC is committed to putting the nation back on the track of development to catch up with the rest of the world in infrastructure, science and technology, democracy and governance as well as social order in a globalized world.

    · Mr. Dan Owegie is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

  • No respite yet for Chime

    No respite yet for Chime

    Governor Sullivan Chime’s hope that the political war he has been waging in his backyard since the Udi council chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State suspended five of his aides will become a thing of the past appears to have again been dashed.

    Things appeared bright for the embattled governor when the state party chapter said it had upturned the suspension of the affected persons. The governor who according to sources had made several efforts to have the suspension reversed was elated at the news.

    But last Wednesday, the Udi council chapter insisted that the said suspension has not and cannot be reversed. The executive members of the Udi PDP made this known in Enugu, when news filtered in that the state party chapter had upturned the suspension of the affected persons.

    Five aides of the Enugu State governor were reportedly suspended last Friday for anti-party activities and holding meetings with party members without the knowledge of the executive committee members. The affected are the Secretary to the State Government, Ameachi Okolo; the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Chijioke Agu; Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Dr. Jude Akubuilo; the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Marcus Agu; and the Executive Secretary, Enugu State Industrial Parks Authority, Mr. Ugochukwu Onyema.

    With the latest development, it simply means that the political ‘civil war’ between Governor Chime and leaders of his party in Udi L.G.A is yet to abate, leaving the Enugu helmsman with no respite.

  • North remains home of power in Nigeria – Aruwa

    North remains home of power in Nigeria – Aruwa

    Senator Mohammed Ahmed Aruwa represented Kaduna Central while in the upper legislative chamber and also contested the governorship of the state on the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). In this interview with Tony Akowe, Aruwa, who is now a chieftain of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), gives reasons why President Goodluck Jonathan should contest the 2015 elections. Excerpts

    Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has become a former chairman of PDP, having resigned his position due to pressure.  The PDP, particularly in the north, has lost four governors to the opposition APC, while the party has lost some of its lawmakers to the opposition. Do you think the departure of Bamanga Tukur will bring back peace to the PDP and place the party in a good position to win elections in 2015?

    If we are talking about governors and members of the House of Representatives defecting, I want to say that they are not doing this for Tukur nor the PDP, but they are inviting chaos to the nation and it will affect every one of us. It is only in a country where there is no rule of law that you can take a mandate from party ‘A’ and transfer it to party ‘B’ without regard to the electorate and you expect democracy to succeed. So, when you talk about defection, you expect a ruling party to be in the minority through the whims and caprices of its own members and not the electorate. I don’t think anyone of you should even give credence or support to such act, unless you all resolve that the military should come back. Act, can declare all those seats vacant.

    Let us be honest and look at the problem of internal party democracy within the PDP vis-à-vis the leadership imposition by the same party.  Don’t you think this is enough to encourage defection from the party?

    No, I don’t think so. I thought we are being honest ab initio. So, the point of let us be honest doesn’t arise. Ab initio, we should be honest with ourselves. You will agree with me that internal democracy in all the political parties in Nigeria is lacking.

    Yes, interest groups abound in all political parties. But no matter the problem, at the end of the day, you should sit as a family and resolve it. But where some insist that there will be no resolution, where do you go from there? This is the situation in the PDP at the moment. Yes, there are lapses on the part of the management of the PDP. But two wrongs cannot make a right.

    The situation democracy finds itself in Nigeria, do you think it is proper and right for democracy?

    You answer that. Here is a country that is yearning for democracy and the gladiators are not willing to resolve issues. Who will suffer for that? It is democracy that will suffer. Even with the fanfare in the media, there is a lopsided reportage about all issues. Leaders are bound to make mistakes, and followers are bound to read between the lines and see which is genuine, or deliberate.  Nobody has the monopoly of knowledge, PDP inclusive. But that is not to say that 27 members of a 30-man state assembly will decide to change camp, leaving three of them on the platform that brought them into the house. Is there any sense in that democratically? Whoever the leader is ought to have stopped that because they are challenging democracy. Democracy doesn’t talk, but we should speak and talk on behalf of democracy. When we see anything wrong, we beat the drum and dance about it and the resultant consequences will spare no one of us. It is wrong for any leader to think that people should defect to his side, remove 27 out of 30 members from a state assembly, expect not to be hacking on the fabric of democracy. I don’t think it’s right.

    We were there when you were received into the PDP with a lot fanfare and high expectations. Yakowa, who received you into the party, is no longer alive. Today, we have a new governor and there are lots of complaints by critical stakeholders within the party in the state that they have been edged out. Do you still feel very welcome in the PDP under this government?

    First of all, I must tell you that I didn’t go to the PDP for compromise. It is out of shear volition and the need to unit and not divide. The proliferation of political parties in the country is an instrument of division. So, I felt like belonging to the majority party that is ruling in the north and by extension Nigeria. I looked at the political set up in Nigeria and only in the north, we have pockets of political parties.  I know for sure in the South-West there is only one party; other parties only poach wherever they are. But in the north we are divided not only by political differences, but also by religious differences and tribes. This is my number one reason for going to the PDP. I did not go there as an archeologist or an auditor to audit qualities and proprieties of the personalities that are already in that office.  I cannot tell you that I’m evaluating the qualities of Namadi or anybody else. But as a party, I can tell you where I believe that the PDP needs to make amends in order to satisfy some of its members. I belong to the PDP now and I will be there forever, even if I’ll be the only one. I can assure you that unless you bring angels from heaven, the PDP will still rule come 2015.  I’m very much welcome in the party. When I said the PDP needs to make amends, I was talking frankly because some of the office holders in the party have distanced themselves from the electorate.

    Many northern elders and some members of the PDP from the north are disappointed with the PDP government in Nigeria and want the presidential seat to come back to the north. If the PDP gives the ticket to President Goodluck Jonathan and another party gives its ticket to a northern candidate, what will be the fate of the northern candidate?

    That scenario has happened before, and on two or three occasions, the non-northerner won. I don’t believe that the north should go out of its way and fight because they want to govern this country.  I will say it without any regret and will say it again that the home of power in Nigeria remains in the north. There is no question about it because democracy is about numbers and election is about numbers.  Whoever is ruling today, even Jonathan, I don’t think he got to where he is without at least 25% of votes both from the north and south. Make no mistake, no southerner can be president without northerners and no northerner can become president without southerners. So, I don’t support the idea that any northerner should go over his head fighting that power should come here.  We have a country that belongs to all of us.  We have a non-northerner ruling today and it’s likely that next time, it will be a northerner. It should be allowed that natural movement.  But to force your way just because you are a majority is not part of democracy because democracy still requests that you protect the interest of the minority.  So, now a southerner is ruling and eventually, it will come to the north and at that time, you can now block it from going out. But don’t say you will force your way and that it must be now. If the northerners believe that is the way to run the government or democracy, constitutional democracy for that matter, then goodluck to you.  But that is not the fight we should embark on.  We should work towards reuniting the nation, working together. That’s what democracy is all about. It’s not about you because you have the number.

    What is your take on the position of northerners based on what they said concerning the so-called gentleman agreement on rotational presidency vis-à-vis their perception that the president wants to renege on what they agreed upon in 2011 for him to run for a single term?

    Democratically, it is wrong for them to go into such an agreement. If they are guided by the constitution, they need not talk about that so-called agreement which as far as I’m concerned, is verbal and you’re not a witness to it and the electorate did not witness it.  All those northern elders, I don’t care if they escort the earth to the world, none of them can present a copy of that agreement. They only talk about a non-existent agreement. Even if it exists, it is not democratic. The constitution provides for two terms and the Electoral Act also provides for two terms.  So, the electorate are the only one that can deny you two terms and give you one term or even recall you if need be. So, who gave those elders the mandate to negotiate this non-existing agreement? I don’t know if you have seen it.  You are a journalist and I don’t know if anybody has shown you that agreement. Let me draw your attention to the fact that, sometimes, you members of the press are the problems of our polity. Jonathan inherited two years from Umaru Yar’adua of blessed memory. Jonathan agitated for a six-year single term. The term he was referring to is the two years he finished for Yar’adua and the four years he is serving now.  But we said no.  Can you recall the time he was agitating for a six-year single term? Where was our head at that time?  Were our heads over our shoulders or were they somewhere else?  But now we have said no to a six-year single term and seem to have forgotten that he has a constitutional right to re-contest.  There is nowhere in the constitution that the law bans him from contesting, and he saw it fit to give it a trial. It is your votes that will decide whether Jonathan becomes president or not.

    You spoke confidently about the PDP winning the 2015 elections despite the crisis it is going through right now. What is your justification for this?

    As a member of the PDP, it is good for me to see my party win the 2015 election and I don’t think there is anything wrong in that. In 2011,

  • Re: APC battles PDP for soul of Abia

    Re: APC battles PDP for soul of Abia

    For the purpose of keeping records, the trash by one “Hildah Ifeoma Ifegwu”, supposedly on behalf of Governor T. A. Orji, deserves to be ignored as clear abuse of the “Right of Reply”.  Nowhere in Mr Sam Egburonu’s piece was Abia State Government mentioned nor was there any attempt to cast aspersion on the person or office of Governor Orji.  Furthermore, Chief Ikechi Emenike was neither interviewed nor quoted in the said article.  So, the so-called rejoinder by “Ifegwu” is a curious attempt at provoking hostility where none exists.

    Those who live in Abia State will be shocked to read anywhere that Chief Emenike has no solid political structure. “He comes around when there is election; after which he fades, litigates and zooms off”.  This sentence can only emanate from characters who have been holding Abia State down for many years.  After a candidate in an election challenges its outcome to the highest court in the land, what else should he do after the judgement? Hang around Umuahia and be “settled”? Join the bandwagon of political/economic destitutes perpetually in search of crumbs?  Or should he go back to his well-heeled business and prepare for another battle?  If some of Chief Emenike’s current abusers are a bit more exposed, to appreciate democratic culture, as in civilised climes, they would have realised that after any election, those elected into offices are allowed to serve their constituents, while those not elected rebuild and repackage their structures and processes for another election.  Well, I wonder how many times “Ifegwu” has heard about Mitt Romney since he lost his bid to the White House to President Barack Obama.  Does that mean he is no longer relevant?

    Indeed, modern political culture encourages politicians to lie a little low and not distract those in office.  Yet Chief Emenike is in Abia every month for our meetings.  If “Ifegwu” can avail me of his contact, I shall invite him as an observer, since we are not a secret cult. Perhaps, Chief Emenike is too enlightened, and obviously too sophisticated not to know when to politic publicly.

    This writer, a barrister of over 20 years, has been a member of Chief Emenike’s political structure for many years.  I was the pioneer State Financial Secretary of the PDP in Abia State and later, the State Treasurer.  I was also the President General of the entire Nneato, covering three huge federal wards, for six years.  I was the MC at the 28th December 2013  meeting where, in over 225 buses and 120 cars, over 4,000 co-ordinators from the various communities in Abia State gathered and voted to accompany Chief Emenike to the APC.  With one voice we asked our principal to quit the PDP and join the APC.  The meeting was presided over by Prof. Mba Uzoukwu, former Deputy Vice Chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka and former SDP Chairman in Abia State.  Also in attendance were the State chairman of Emenike Structure and former Caretaker Committee State Chairman of the NRC in Kwara State, Engr. Chris Okpechi, a 1972 UNN graduate of Geo-physics; Prof. Ogbonna Offor (Bende); Prof Chima Ezeoma; and Prof. A.  Nwabughiogu (Osisioma).  Also on the roll-call were a U.S-trained but retired Federal Permanent Secretary, Chief Sam Amajor; Engr. Gideon Asiegbu, another retired Federal Permanent Secretary; Dr. Sam Ogbonna (Ikwuano); Chief Jacob Nwachukwu (Obingwa); Engr. Dr. Abarikwu (Ibeku). Even 85-year-old mama Onyioha, National Women Leader of the NCNC and wife of the great K.O.K Onyioha, was present as was Dame Iheme, retired principal of the oldest teachers college in Abia State, among others.  Are these the kind of men and women who “only tell him what he likes to hear?”

    Since this article is about setting the records straight, let me inform further that each local government area  delegation was led by the following: Mr. Chinedu Adindu (Ikwuano); Chief LongJohn Onyemachi (Umuahia South); Chief Chiwuisi Uchendu (Umuahia North); Chief S. Ihesiaba (Isiala Ngwa North); Chief N. Ezenwoko (Isialangwa South); Chief I. Atubia (Osisioma); Hon. Mike Maduka (Aba North); Hon. Chigozie Eze (Aba South); Chief Ngozi Joseph (Ugwunagbo); Hon. Grant (Obingwa); Chief Nwogu Nwogu (Ukwa West); Chief Nwabu Anyamele (Ukwa East).  Others are High Chief Johnson Adiele (Bende), Elder J. Amaogu (Ohafia); Chief I. Kalu (Arochukwu); Mr. Uche Iyioke (Isiukwuato); and Hon. Ejike Olekanma (Umunneochi).

    The communiqué of this meeting was read by my senior, Nnamdi Uchendu, a lawyer of over 30 years standing, former NBA chairman in Umuahia and also erstwhile State Chairman of AD.

    Dear “Ifegwu”, it takes commitment, fidelity and perseverance to sustain a structure for over 10 years.  It is laughable for a man who has never built any structure in his life to question the solidity of another’s 10-years’ old structure.  The revered Chinua Achebe counselled that “Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble”.

    The only crime Emenike committed, to his abusers, is the exercise of his God-given indomitable spirit.  He has refused to give up on Abia State.  And he goes about it without insulting or abusing anyone.  Anybody who has been a follower of Emenike will attest to the fact that he goes about his politics promoting his ideas and programmes for the people of Abia.

    I challenge anyone to produce one evidence, anywhere, where Emenike has tried to cast aspersions on T.A. Orji.  Even in the height of the contentious 2007 elections, when journalists tried in vain to get Emenike to criticise T. A. Orji during his incarceration, he bluntly refused to join the bandwagon of Orji’s abusers.  His standard reply was “I have no interest in hitting a man who is down”.  Even at the 28th December, 2013 meeting, Chief Emenike told the entire structure that they must never deviate from the “positive politics of representing the good face of Abia and the great ideas that can uplift our state”.

    Why do some people in Abia catch the cold each time Emenike’s name is mentioned? “Ifegwu” needs to go back to his principal to find out why he should visit a man of little political relevance to sign a written understanding to deliver PDP in 2011.  The state-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Abia sang about this document every five minutes for two and a half (2 ½) weeks prior to the election.  In case you don’t have a copy, you can come to my chambers for one.  Better still, ask your principal for a copy.  Which other Abian did your governor sign a  collaboration agreement with over the 2011 elections?

    It is very funny that from your Government House, you seem so interested in the APC so well as to know that “Chief G. O. Onyemaobi, who has been running the affairs of the APC in the state, knows Apugo too well to have anything to do with him or take him into confidence”.  In the same article, you described Chief Apugo as tempestuous among several other unflattering terms, as well as describing his home as “A Lion’s Den”.  Every Igboman knows that Prince B. B. Apugo is a political Iroko. One day the story will be told how some vital meetings that were held in that house assisted your principal to his current station.

    Some of the thinking in that piece are so warped that they do not deserve any response.  You seem to be feasting on the fate of a very few people who were dismissed from Emenike’s camp.  Of the 34 vehicles he gave out, only two were recalled from two aides.  Is recalling such assets from men with shady characters not better than demolishing people’s hotels, properties or chasing some of them out of town?  Kindly encourage your principal to entrust part of the funds for his 2015 senatorial bid to those characters!

    It would enlighten “Ifegwu” more to take a walk to the Government House car park, to find out the sources of some of the Space Wagons, Audi and Mazda cars parked there which are still being used by some of his principal’s senior aides or better still, ask six members of his principal’s cabinet (commissioners) which of them were asked to return any of the largesse they enjoyed from Chief Emenike?  These men still live in Abia. Do you want us to give you names of those who worked with your principal, who do not have such “privilege”?

    Chief Emenike and Governor Orji can belong to different political parties without the unnecessary bitterness emitting from the Abia Government House.  Since, according to you, “their exit is good riddance”, why don’t you and your principal leave them alone?

    2015 election can indeed be conducted in a more convivial atmosphere, if lies, blackmails and unnecessary hostilities can be avoided by those whose primary duty should be to maintain the peace.

     

    – Okonkwo is former State Treasurer of PDP and now a major stakeholder in APC

     

  • Taraba House Speaker under pressure

    Taraba House Speaker under pressure

    The Speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly, Josiah Sabo Kente, is under pressure over his alleged disregard for a court injunction restraining the House to screen commissioner nominees presented by the acting governor, Alhaji Garba Umar.

    Ripples gathered that by Friday, concerned political elders and several organisations in the state, including a group named Save Taraba from Anarchy (STA), have either taken the matter to Abuja or written the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Mohammed Bello Adoke, to intervene immediately.

    STA for example, in a letter to the AGF argued, among others that “since Governor Danbaba Danbaba Suntai is in court with the Speaker and the Assembly, the lawmakers who are defendants in the suit ought not to have screened any commissioner-nominee pending hearing and determination of the plaintiff’s motion on notice, as contained in the Orders of Interim Injunction (OII).”

    But sources close to the House said the speaker had no option than to ignore the court injunction, though he initially claimed not to have recieved it.

  • 2015: Time runs out for game changers

    2015: Time runs out for game changers

    Certain key office holders will be making way for their successors in 2014. Sunday Oguntola considers how the vacancies and successors may well determine the outcomes of the 2015 polls

    They could determine the next President of Nigeria. For political analysts and observers, they are the game changers. With them, the pendulum could swing in any direction. These game changers are the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Inspector of General of Police (IGP). No president can emerge without their active inputs and cooperation, some experts have said.

    A test of Jega’s resolve

    Of the lots, only the INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, is guaranteed of remaining in office when the 2015 elections hold. Jega, who was appointed on June 8, 2010 as the nation’s electoral umpire, is entitled to renewable five-year tenure. This means he won’t be considered for replacement until June 2015.

    But even Jega’s ability to conduct credible elections has been dealt a serious blow with the fiasco in the just-concluded Anambra governorship poll. The poll was characterised by all manner of irregularities, starting from name omissions in voters’ list to alleged ballot-stuffing, violence, logistical challenges, inconclusive voting and cancelled votes.

    All of these forced the commission to declare the poll inconclusive, leading to a supplementary election in 16 local government areas. The 16 councils were Aguata, Awka North, Awka South, Anambra East, Anambra West, Ayamelum, Anaocha, Ekwusigo, Idemili North and Idemili South. Others were Ihiala, Nnewi South, Onitsha North, Onitsha South, Orumba North and Oyi.

    At the end of the disputed supplementary election, widely boycotted by voters, INEC declared as winner, Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) amid serious protestations by opposition parties.

    Several interest groups, including students and women also held protest marches against the charade. Jega admitted the elections were fraught with serious challenges, blaming it on some compromised staff of the commission.

    That outing has fuelled fears that the country might be heading to electoral nightmares in 2015.

    Jega did not inspire much hope himself. Last week, he told Nigerians not to expect a perfect poll in 2015. Speaking during a courtesy visit to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja by the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, Jega said: “We are not promising perfect elections in 2015 but we are confident that we will do better than we did in 2011”.

    To Nigerians, that was an admittance of failure before the litmus test. So even though Jega is sure to conduct the general elections, barring unforeseen natural exigencies, many are already insinuating the Anambra debacle will be replicated across the nation.

    Anambra, they said, was a testing ground for what might happen in 2015. This is more so because President Goodluck Jonathan will be seeking reelection.

    Though the President is yet to formally declare, many believe he is already poised to win every critical agency to his side to achieve his ambition. With INEC’s independence a constant source of suspicion due to the President’s exclusive power to appoint its Chairman, some political observers believe Jega will be easily swayed to spin the results in Jonathan’s favour, should the needs arise.

    But supporters of Jega say he is an uncompromising, incorruptible umpire whose pedigree as an ex-ASUU President has remained constant.

    But Jega will be faced with a massive moral burden should the opposition present a Northern presidential candidate.

    The Kebbi-born former Vice Chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano (BUK) might be torn between favouring a president, who appointed himself as INEC chairman, or acting against one of his own. Going against one of his kinsmen will mean acting against Northern interest, a price not many are willing to pay. It is a dilemma that will stretch the moral fabric of Jega and test his conscience in no small measure.

    Will Jega allow the ruling party’s rigging machinery to run unhindered during and after the elections, simply looking away? Will he move against any such move and write his name in gold? One will have to wait till 2015 to know where the chief electoral umpire will pitch his tent.

    Crucial, game-changing vacancies

    The other office occupiers, Justice Aloma Muktar (CJN); Lamido Sanusi (CBN governor) and Mohammed Abubakar (IGP) will be leaving in 2014. Muktar, the first female CJN, was sworn in on July 16, 2012. She was 68. Born 20 November 1944, the nation’s judicial head will be due for retirement in 2014 upon attainment of the mandatory 70 years for service. This means in the event of an electoral dispute arising from the 2015 elections, Muktar will no longer be around to head the Supreme Court.

    Who replaces Muktar?

    The face of a modern, unbiased judge, Muktar demonstrated courage when, alongside Justices George Oguntade and Walter Onnoghen, she almost voided the outcome of the 2007 election that brought the late President Musa Yar’Adua and now President Jonathan to power.

    While Justices Kutigi, Katsina-Alu, Niki Tobi and Dahiru Musdapher dismissed the appeal by then presidential candidate of the All Nigerian Peoples’ Party (ANPP), Muhammadu Buhari, Justices Mukhtar, George Oguntade and Onnoghen believed the election should be voided.

    They maintained that the allegation of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2006 was proved by the petitioner. She also rejected an offer for an appointment as the Chief Judge of The Gambia, a ploy many believe was to ease her out of the system and prevent her emergence as CJN.

    That she won’t be around to head the Supreme Court’s hearing of the anticipated electoral dispute in 2015 is already seen as a big minus by many political observers. With her, they claim it would have been possible to grind the rigging prowess of the ruling party and secure judicial redress.

    With Jonathan vested with the powers to nominate the new CJN, there are fears that he could opt for someone who can watch his back, should electoral disputes become inevitable. The new CJN will emerge in December, few weeks to commencement of elections, a development that many say will further raise the stakes for the position.

    The website of the Supreme Court lists Justices Mahmud Mohammed, Nkanu Onnoghen and Ibrahim Muhammad as the three leading in the apex court. Though seniority remains a major consideration for the CJN post, it is unknown if Jonathan will break away from the expected tradition or pick someone down the ladder, who is considered amenable.

    Already, the appointment of Maj-Gen. Kenneth Tobiah Minimah as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) also indicates seniority might not always be a consideration for Jonathan. The Rivers-born artillery soldier was picked ahead of 31 senior officers. Minimah is a Course 25 member of the Nigeria Defence Academy while his seniors in Course 22, 23 and 24 were overlooked.

    Though the COAS is a political appointment with the President holding the ace, Minimah’s promotion is already generating ripples in the Army. Those ahead of him are said to be preparing for voluntary retirement to avoid reporting to someone under them.

    A military source claimed his appointment was to consolidate the President’s grip on soldiers during and after elections. At a recent Delta-Central Senatorial bye-election, electoral monitors alleged the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) used soldiers to intimidate voters in Ughelli North, Udu and Uvwie local government areas.

    They claimed three Hilux vehicles brought soldiers to Okpe Local Government and snatched ballot boxes in favour of the PDP candidate. With Minimah, an Ijaw man, as the Army chief, observes say Jonathan has secured the backing of the military ahead of 2015.

    Whether or not, he might shun the seniority clause in the nomination of the next CJN remains to be seen. But what is without doubt is that the President will keep a serious interest in who becomes the CJN, knowing it might determine whether or not his election is ratified by the apex court in 2015.

    Fishing for Sanusi’s successor

    If it were just down to Jonathan, CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido, should have left office this January. The President was left fuming by the former’s allegation that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had not remitted $49.8 billion of crude oil proceeds to the Federation Account. Sources in the Presidency believe Sanusi’s claim, which he later admitted as an error, was to discredit the administration and score cheap political points.

    When Jonathan requested for the resignation of the bank chief, the Kano-born prince reportedly bluffed his call, saying only two-third of the senate can remove him. The tough-talking CBN boss has always insisted he won’t be available for a second term once his tenure expires on June 2. For the Jonathan’s camp, June 2 is a long time. It is a day they wished would come in few hours. Investigations revealed Sanusi is treated as a repellent. He is believed to be working to undermine the government.

    Last week, he was queried again for some questionable donations to opposition states. Presidential aides said the donations must have been to fund the activities of anti-Jonathan camps in the state. The donations include N4billion to Bayero University, Kano; N10 billion to Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto; N500 million to the University of Benin and N100 million to the Kano State government. The donations considered ultra-vires were said to be outside the powers and functions of the CBN. All of these, as well as Sanusi’s outspokenness, have continued to ruffle feathers at the presidency.

    Thankfully, from their perspective, Sanusi will finally bow out on June 2. For an incumbent president seeking reelection, the CBN top seat is too important to leave for someone who will not play according to dictates. The President’s re-election machinery requires heavy war chests to woo the mounting oppositions and win over crucial figures. In a political environment where money remains a big decider, the President will be interested in cashing in on every opportunity to oil his electioneering machinery.

    With a sympathetic CBN governor, the coast will be clear to have unfettered access to state funds for electioneering purposes. This consideration, it is believed, will influence the emergence of the next CBN governor, another appointment at the exclusive prerogative of the President.

    IGP: To go or stay?

    Mohammed Abubakar was made the Inspector General of Police on January 25, 2012 in acting capacity. His appointment was confirmed last year. He enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force on July 30, 1979, meaning he would have been in service for 35 years in 2014. Going by the statutory requirement, Abubakar should bow out of office this July. But this is hard to imagine.

    Political analysts said he enjoys the support and confidence of the President. His handling of the Rivers crisis, where police have repeatedly smashed opposition rallies, they say, is a pointer to what he could do in the run-off to the 2015 polls.

    The Force remains a critical component in elections. It provides security for voting materials, electoral officials and booths. Many believe the persistent allegations of rigging would have been no-issue had the Nigeria Police Force been up and doing.

    The re-election bid of Jonathan means he would need a Police chief he can trust to provide covering and possibly look away should rigging become the only way out. Abubakar seems to have warmed his way to the President’s heart so far, going by how opposition figures have been hunted and shut out. Yet, the records suggest he should retire this July.

    Will Jonathan allow him to go and enjoy a deserved rest, or will he accord him a tenure extension, much like former President Olusegun Obasanjo did to ex-police chief, Sunday Ehindero, to enable him watch over the contentious 2007 polls? The IGP remains in office at the pleasure of the President, just like other Service Chiefs. But what about attainment of mandatory 35 years in service? Or will Abubakar enjoy the favour Jonathan granted ex-Army Chief, Lt. Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, who stayed two, long years after he clocked 35 years in service?

    How President Jonathan handles these vacancies will confirm how far he is bent on getting reelected come 2015.

    To go before election

    • Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN)

    • Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) governor

    • Inspector General of Police

  • Imo PDP: Ararume’s guber ambition alters calculation

    Imo PDP: Ararume’s guber ambition alters calculation

    Senator Ifeanyi Ararume’s interest in the governorship ticket of Imo State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party is causing ripples within the party, reports Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

    With the return of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) early in the year and his interest in the 2015 Imo State governorship race, political calculations within the party in the state appear to have been significantly altered.

    Before the return of the frontline politician, spin doctors in the party had thought the race for the governorship will be a race among interested aspirants from Owerri zone chiefs among who are the current Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha and National Women Leader of the party, Dr. Kema Chikwe.

    This, according to party sources, was because of perceived absence of any strong aspirant from the Okigwe zone of the state in spite of the zone’s clamour that one of its own should be allowed to return to the Government House and complete its second term of four years.

    The zone’s argument, sources said, is premised on the assumption that the inability of former Governor Ikedi Ohakim to win his re-election bid in 2011 short-changed the zone by preventing it from governing the state for eight years that would have equated the two four-year terms spent in office by Orlu zone when Chief Achike Udenwa ruled the state between 1999 and 2003.

    Senator Sylvester Anyanwu, Ohakim and Senator Mathew Nwagwu are some of the names that has been propping up as aspirants from the zone for the 2015 governorship election within the PDP. But political pundits, as well as opinion leaders within the party, have written most of them off as too weak politically to confront Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    Also, quite a number of party leaders in the state are of the opinion that the people of Okigwe zone blew their chance in 2011 by allowing Okorocha from Orlu zone to snatch power from them. It is also a popular opinion within the party that it will be unfair to the Owerri zone that has been waiting in the wings for nearly two decades to wait for another four years while Okigwe goes again.

    Consequently, politicians from Owerri zone were encouraged to come all out for the position with a near assurance that the party will zone its governorship ticket to the zone without much ado.

    And notable politicians from the zone were seen as the front runners in the race for the PDP 2015 governorship ticket. Aside Ihedioha and Chikwe, other notable PDP chieftains from the zone being fingered as governorship aspirants include former Interior Minister, Emmanuel Iheanacho and a frontline financier of the party in the state, Chief Jerry Chukwueke.

    But with the recent return of Ararume to the party three years after he defected to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), party chieftains are once again looking in the direction of Okigwe zone in their bid to decide where the PDP guber ticket should go in 2015.

    Ararume, who announced his return to the party with a ceremony that was witnessed by the likes of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, Senator Arthur Nzeribe and his wife, Senate Committee Chairman on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodiimma, Hon. Bethel Amadi, National Women Leader of the party, Dr. Kema Chikwe, South-East zonal chairman of the PDP, Col. Austin Akobundu (rtd), outgoing State Chairman of the party, Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN), state Secretary, George Uzoma Eguh, a former Managing Director of the Daily Times, Chief Innocent Okparadike, former Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Chief Kelechi Nwagwu, among others, has not left anyone in doubt that his coming to the party is to contest the governorship election in 2015.

    While saying he returned to the party to contribute his part to building the party at all levels, he expressed optimism that with his re-entry, the feat the party recorded during elections between 1999 and 2007 would be repeated. He then asked for the support of all party chieftains and members to enable him achieve his desires for the party.

    And it appears the prominent chieftains of the party are fast catching the Ararume bug, creating a fast spreading impression within the party that he may get the governorship ticket in 2015 as a compensation for the many injustices he allegedly suffered in the hands of the party leadership before his defection.

    A leader of the party, who spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity, said Ararume’s return to the party was a product of efforts by party leaders to reposition the PDP in Imo State back to its election winning ways.

    “His return to the PDP is not by chance. Ararume is a politician with a big weight in Imo politics. Having him outside the party was a big loss all these years and we all knew that. What has been the lot of the PDP since he left? We lost our wining magic and that is what we want back.

    “The insinuations that he may be given the party’s guber ticket in 2015 are not all lies. Apart from the fact that he deserves it as a politician who can deliver electoral victory, it is also important to note that the party cannot ignore the agitation of Okigwe zone for an opportunity to complete our own second term.

    “You recall that Ararume left the party as a result of the injustice meted out to him in the 2007 Governorship Election in Imo State. What happened was the height of injustice and a barefaced act of anti-party activity against a fellow member of the party. That injustice must be redressed. A situation where the then President, Chief Obasanjo, arrived Imo State with the National Executives and declared that the PDP did not have a candidate in the election was a barefaced act of anti-party activity.

    “This obnoxious decision was handed out on the party, in spite of the judgment of the Supreme Court that Ararume was the governorship candidate of the PDP in that election. A situation where members of a political party were asked to vote against a member of the party is very absurd and reeks of dictatorship. This kind of imposition is not known to democracy; it’s the height of anti-party act and the party must take cognizance of all these now that Ararume has returned to the party,” our source, a state executive member of the party, said.

    Also, the State Legal Adviser of PDP in Imo State, C.O.C. Akaolisa, was recently quoted as saying there is need for the party to revisit all the injustices meted out to Ararume before his defection.

    “The fact that Ararume has returned to the party in spite of that provocation shows that he is a good man. As the State Legal Adviser of the party, I will advise that this injustice meted out to Ararume should be revisited with a view to have it redressed because he who goes to equity must go with clean hands.

    “Now that Ararume is back to the party, it behooves the party to ensure that whatever rights that are due to him and his supporters are given to them in full without any reservations. The party will make further clarification on this development as events unfold,” Akaolisa reportedly said.

    But it is not all chieftains of the party that are at ease with the alleged subtle move to hand Ararume the party’s ticket. From the Owerri zone and other sections of the state, some organisations, party leaders and members are preparing to shoot down the alleged plan.

    Recently,the Owerri People’s Front (OPF) organised a programme in Owerri, the Imo State capital, to remind party leaders of the need for them to consider the agitation of the people of Owerri zone for the governorship with all seriousness.

    Speaking at the event, Ihedioha, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Mr. Ernest Ibejiako, described the agitation as noble and justifiable. He said he is committed to any move to ensure that Owerri Senatorial Zone produced the governor come 2015.

    He urged the people of the zone to be selfless and not be deterred by materialism and pressure from the enemies of progress in the pursuit of the project, pointing out that the injustice against the zone would be a thing of the past should people support the cause of OPF in actualising the mandate.

    On her part, Chikwe lamented that Imo State had been producing emergency governors since 1999 because of the inability of the people to do the right thing by supporting credible and qualified candidates because, according to her, the character of a governor was a combination of so many factors.

    The former ambassador said for the state to move forward, Owerri Zone must produce the governor of the state in 2015 in the interest of justice and fair play. She, however, urged the people of the zone to see the issue as a serious business, which required the commitment of all and sundry.

    While insisting that the group will move against any attempt to give the ticket to a candidate from another zone, the Chairman of OPF, Mr. Ebere Chukwuemeka, explained that it is time for the party to correct the imbalance in the leadership of the state since 1999. He said the group will continue to enlighten the people on why the zoning formula in the state must be respected.