Category: South East

A presidential aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Peter Obi, has hoped to emerge as the party’s consensus candidate for the 2023 general election.

He said he had the criteria as one of the world economy and social-political leader to address the current nation’s harsh economic conditions.

Obi spoke at the weekend at his Onitsha home after receiving the expression of interest and nomination forms from a group of professionals.

The ex-Anambra State governor, who said he would formally declare for the presidential race in the coming days, added that the first thing he would do, if elected, would be to bring back trust in governance.

He said his manifesto, which he would be committed to, would be made public during the declaration, hoping that his party would present the best hand to rescue the country from its present quagmire.

Said he: “Although PDP presidential aspirants are already discussing how to present an acceptable candidate that will carry the party’s flag for the election, emphasis is on who is best suited for the job because of the enormity of problems facing the country.

“The presidential aspirants are not saying the consensus is for a particular section of the country. They might be talking of consensus for the whole Nigeria. So, we are going around, interacting with people and discussing everything.

“You never can tell, I might be the consensus candidate they are asking for. We have been discussing with one another and I believe that in the end, we will find out who is the best person for the job.

“I have strong support from all over Nigeria and in this recruitment; we must be able to interrogate people’s past and what they have been able to do in their previous jobs so as to guide Nigerians in making the selection.”

Obi added: “I have the capacity to turn this country around. At the moment, Nigeria is at its lowest ebb. Crime will be reduced when people are gainfully employed and I have plan how to bring people out of poverty as quickly as possible. The first line of tackling poverty is reviving the economy.”

Appreciating the professionals for believing in him, he assured them of his commitment for a better Nigeria, saying: “I’m also committed to the future of our youths. We must get to work to build a better Nigeria.”

The group’s leader, Mr. Daniel Wilbert from Warri, Delta State, said he and his colleagues across the country contributed and purchased the forms for Obi in view of the qualities of a good president they found in him.

“The working class professionals from parts of the country believe that Obi is best suited for the job at this turbulent period in the country’s history.

“We have looked around and seen that you are the best for the job, hence our decision to identify with your aspiration,” he said.

Heaps of sawdust from the operations of sawmills around Pessu Market in Warri South Local Government of Delta State have become worrisome, causing robust trading activities facilitated by the once flowing Warri River, to decline.

This was observed during an on-the-spot assessment of the area by an activist and Warri Chief, Mrs. Rita Lori-Ogbebor.

It was discovered that shops in the once booming market were under lock and key, due to low patronage and the inaccessible waterway.

Calling on the federal and state governments to address the situation as soon as possible, Lori-Ogbebor, the Igba of Warri kingdom, expressed “anger” about the development, which she described as an “environmental disaster”.

She said women in the area lamented that the situation had negatively affected their businesses, hence the decision to see things for herself and set the ball rolling for a solution.

“Now, one of the main reasons I have found is that the waterway that brings goods to Pessu market is blocked. Because it’s blocked, this market is not functioning. The women’s livelihoods are cut off. They don’t have goods coming and going out.

“This is where they feed their children from and look after their homes. Most have no husbands. This is the market that looks after them. Why is it not functioning? This is why I came. This has to be cleared. We want it done! This is an environmental hazard. It is convenient for the saw millers to put these things (sawdust) there. But it is extremely bad.

“My concern, first and foremost, is that the women must have business to do. My second concern is that this place is supposed to be a river; it should flow because if it doesn’t flow, when the rain falls, there is going to be a problem.

“The market itself helps the economy, so if people are not buying and selling because of this blockade, then we must take away the blockade. God will help us to take away the blockade so that people can bring goods from the North, everywhere. And they can trade properly,” Lori-Ogbebor said.

Asked if the government is aware of the situation, she said: “Government should be aware. No problem gets to this level without government’s knowledge. It is very degrading to Warri City. It’s an eyesore.”

Parts of the once flowing river are covered in sawdust, which has formed soil for the erection of some buildings, wood shavings and water hyacinth.

The social crusader, accompanied by more than a dozen women, visited the Pessu market abattoir, and expressed displeasure about the working condition of the place.

Determined to find a solution to the problem, Chief Lori-Ogbebor proceeded to the office of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Warri South Council secretariat, as well as the offices of the federal and state ministries of environment.

The Area Manager of NIWA, Rufus Oladimeji, when presented with the issue of the blocked river, said he was newly posted to the area, but promised to “look into the situation.”

The Chairman, Warri South Local Government, Dr. Michael Tidi, while affirming that markets were major revenue sources for local governments, said issues that had to do with water bodies were not within the council’s “purview”.

He, however, promised to write to the appropriate authorities for the saw millers to be stopped, as well as the clearing of the waterway to allow free flow of boats, which will in turn boost trade at the Pessu market.

At the Ministry of Environment, the Head of Sanitation and Waste Management, Patience Owivri, promised to report the case to her director, who would forward same to other higher authorities for action.

The Pessu Community Youth Chairman, Solomon Pessu, called on the Federal Government to dredge the river to allow free movement of boats.

A trader, Comfort Atselefun, who claimed to have been trading since the market was built many years ago, appealed for the river to be dredged so that goods could be easily transported in and out of the market.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State chapter, is holding its primaries today to elect candidates for the April 19 chairmanship and councillorship elections in the 192 wards, across the 18 local governments.

This was made known yesterday in Benin by Edo Secretary of APC, Lawrence Okah.

The supremacy battle between Governor Godwin Obaseki and the National Vice Chairman, Southsouth, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Dan Orbih, is taking a dangerous dimension, ahead of the chairmanship and councillorship elections, with each of the camps fixing different dates for the primaries.

Obaseki’s group, in the “Notice of Election”, signed by state PDP Organising Secretary, Tony Anenih (Jr.), son of the late Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, Chief Tony Anenih, as backed by the state’s Chairman of the party, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, fixed its primaries for April 5.

The other group, backed by Orbih, the former Edo chairman of PDP, who is an ally of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, in a letter dated March 28, 2022, and signed by the state’s Secretary of the party, Hillary Otsu, fixed its primary election for April 2, but later shifted it to another yet-to-be announced date.

Cracks have emerged in the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ahead of the coming primaries to elect the candidates of the party for 2023 general election.

The leader of the party and state Governor, Nyesom Wike, was said to be rallying stakeholders to find the best option of producing the governorship candidate with little or no rancour.

Wike and other party leaders were said to be considering a consensus candidate for the party.

Stakeholders that attended a recent meeting held at the Government House, Port Harcourt, at the instance of the governor, were said to have expected the governor to use the occasion to announce his preferred candidate for the poll.

Some were already saying the governor had settled for the former PDP state chairman, Felix Obuah. Others said Wike was looking at the direction of his Special Adviser on Special Project, Dakorinama George-Kelly.

Still, some stakeholders were hoping that the governor would announce the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Tammy Danagogo, as his choice for PDP’s governorship ticket.

But Wike reportedly kept them guessing by choosing to discuss other elective positions such as the House of Assembly and National Assembly elections, while keeping mute on the governorship election.

It was learnt that Wike and the party leaders directed party members interested in the legislative positions to proceed and procure their expression of interest and nomination forms.

Stakeholders were said to have further resolved that lawmakers, who had served more than three terms, would not be allowed to vie for another term.

To ensure gender equality, the governor was said to have asked stakeholders to concede one constituency to female contestants in areas with two or more constituencies.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said the governor appealed to governorship aspirants not to procure their forms, yet pending the outcome of the next stakeholders’ meeting.

Prior to the meeting, three aspirants had already bought their forms on the platform of the PDP to contest the primaries.

A member representing Bonny-Degema Federal Constituency,  Farah Dagogo, was the first to procure forms, followed by Senator Lee Maeba and a former deputy governor, Tele Ikuru.

But indications emerged at the weekend that Dagogo had chosen to flex muscles with Wike and other leaders over what he described as lack of internal democracy in the party.

Dagogo has been working in cross purposes with Wike ahead of the presidential and governorship primaries.

The lawmaker pitched tent with the presidential aspiration of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar before Wike’s declaration of his interest in the PDP ticket.

Dagogo warned that Rivers State “is too big for any individual attempting to micro-manage its affairs and fortunes.”

He said there was need to address the fundamental and disturbing occurrences where the voices and desires of the majority to make a choice were being mortgaged by a few.

A statement by Dagogo’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ibrahim Lawal, said the lawmakers spoke in Port Harcourt, the state capital, when a socio-political group, One-On-One-Network, visited his home to show solidarity and support for his aspiration.

Dagogo asked the stakeholders to be determined to recreate history by returning power to the people, who could decide their representatives.

He said: “Rivers State belongs to us all. We cannot continue to pander to the wishes of a few who have turned themselves to dictators with the desire to continue mortgaging our rights to choose and decide who will govern us.

“We have to recreate history, we have to liberate ourselves from this shackle by ensuring that people who have the good interest of the state and its people at heart are supported to govern.

“Let us end dictatorship, let us end it now. Democracy is competitive. I want a situation where we have contestants in the Governorship, Senate, House of Representatives, House of Assembly (primary and general elections. Let us go and try our franchise so that the people will elect their persons.

“Go back home, talk to the people, this is Rivers State. What we are discussing is Rivers State. It is no longer going to be someone dictating to us, in your senatorial district, or ward or unit that it is this person I want. We have gone passed that level.

“This is the 21st Century. I remembered that in 1885, officially, slavery ended in the world. Regrettably, at this point in time, I still see some people chaining themselves, dragging themselves to somebody, a slave master, to drag them along.

“Does it make sense? Just as the last person said, how can our parents worked for thirty something years and are yet to be paid (their gratuities). What are we doing in Rivers State?

“The battle we are facing now is light versus darkness. Can darkness defeat light? I believe we are there  (Government House). By God’s grace we are going to Government House together, all of us. No segregation, no sentiment.

“They promised (their people) that no (PDP) form will come out. But today the only form they said will come out is the one we have. So, automatically, we are potential candidate of the PDP.

“By God’s grace, and with the support of all of you, we are going to move beyond being the candidate of the PDP to face whoever that will contest against us from the other political parties. Our candidature has given them serious problems. I know we will emerge and we are going to win the general election.”

Dagogo added: “Let me reiterate that I will not be seeking re-election to the House of Representatives. At the Green Chambers, with your support, and other human elements, we made major inroads with landmark quality bills, motions, human capacity developments and attraction of projects and we did all these in just over two years, we are not up to three years at the House of Representatives yet.

“With your support we will get it right. We will encourage and allow our local government areas to develop by activating all necessary modalities, particularly large scale infrastructural developments.

“I believe I have what it takes to make our dear state better than it is now. When we want to talk of the best state in Nigeria, Rivers State should be the reference, it should be the parameter and that is what our government in Rivers State will aim to achieve.”

Also, the member representing Port Harcourt Federal Constituency 2 in the National Assembly, Dr. Chinyere Igwe, announced his withdrawal from the PDP 2022 nomination process.

Igwe in a letter to his constituents dated March 31st said:  “The bad news is that our commitment has become our albatross and our greatest undoing. It is, therefore, on this note that I apologise to you all that I shall not and will not participate in the PDP 2022 nomination process.

“This decision will be very bitter to the progressive minded, but sweet to the agents of darkness. However, after rain comes sun. So, accept and respect it as I must quit while the ovation is loudest.”

Igwe said he took the decision despite receiving calls, messages, delegations and emissaries to partake in the nomination process for another term in office.

But he said: “My commitment to free, just and fair society pushed me into wider consultations with my wife and children, family members, associates, well-wishers, colleagues and friends across the length and breadth of Nigeria.”

The leadership of the Southeast zone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has vowed never to allow the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) take back Ebonyi State.

The party said its target in the 2023 general election was to win all states in the Southeast, starting from Abia and Enugu states.

Addressing reporters yesterday at the end of the party’s inaugural zonal meeting in Enugu, the National Vice Chairman (Southeast) of the party, Dr. Ijeomah Arodiogbu, expressed satisfaction about the judgment by the Appeal Court sitting in Enugu, which dismissed the suit filed to remove Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi.

The suit was filed by the candidate of the APC in the 2019 governorship election, Sonni Ogbuoji and his deputy, Justin Ogbodo Mbam, demanding that the court should declare the seats of Umahi and his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, vacant on account of their defection from the PDP to the APC.

However, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice J. O. K. Oyewole last Friday, the court held that the appellants had no locus standi in their bid to supplant the respondents, adding that the constitution did not provide for their removal from office, although the defection of the governor and his deputy might appear immoral.

However, Arodiogbu said Southeast APC was happy with the outcome of the judgment and that it was part of its responsibility to defend the states under the party’s control in the region.

“Ebonyi is one of such states and we cannot let people come in through the back door and harass the governor,” he said.

Arodiogbu said the zonal office of the party had a target in the 2023 general election, which was to win all states in the Southeast, adding that the goal could not be achieved without the support of the people.

He urged residents in the Southeast to support the party, particularly in the coming elections, to attract more infrastructural development.

Arodiogbu said: “We are appealing to our brothers and sisters in the Southeast to support the government at the centre because it has brought massive infrastructure to the zone. There are a lot of good things to benefit if we support the party.”