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Tag: ACN

  • Ahmed submits 16 names

    Ahmed submits 16 names

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed yesterday forwarded the names of 16 commissioner-nominees to the House of Assembly for confirmation.

    Former Chairman of Offa Local Government Area under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Prince Saheed Popoola is one of the nominees.

    The Speaker, Razak Atunwa, said this in Ilorin while reading the governor’s message in the House.

    Other nominees include Sulyman Atolagbe Alege; Amos Segun Aboyeji ; Aliyu Wahab Opakunle; Abdullahi Shaaba Umoru; Abubakar Mora Kaiama; Bode Ogunleye; Abdullahi Lade; Tunji Morofoye; Bode Olayemi Ifelodun; Abubakar Garba Amuda Kannike and Idris Abubakar Garba.

    Others are Mallam Issa Abdul Kayode, Hajia Ramat Abaya, Anthony Kayode Towoyu and Saka Onimago.

    Atunwa directed the nominees to complete all necessary documentation by Friday.

     

  • Why APC national leaders should resolve Ogun crisis

    Why APC national leaders should resolve Ogun crisis

    Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is embroiled in crisis. State Correspondent Ernest Nwokolo examines the issues at stake.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), a formidable opposition party, entered the nation’s political firmament late last year following its official registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It is a conglomeration of democrats and progressives who espouse politics of ideas and peace as opposed to that of violence, thuggery and the machiavellian-like principle of might-is-right.

    This image is what the party at the national and state levels has been striving to protect since its emergence as a registered political party. To certain extent, this has endeared it to the teeming progressive – minded Nigerians, particularly the youth, who are desirous of change from the much maligned and lack – lustre outing of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) at the centre in the last 15 years.

    But in Ogun State the story is becoming different. Discordant tunes and in fighting within the APC in the state are not only disturbing but also an early pointer to the problems ahead of 2015. The recent development suggests that there are some elements within the party that believe in violence and arm twisting tactics to advance their political agenda.

    In the last couple of weeks, Ogun State APC is embroiled in a crisis that bears semblance of the type that had afflictedPDP preparatory to the April 2011 general elections. As a result PDP lost the governorship election and majority of other elective offices to the then Action Congess of Nigeria(ACN). Since then, PDP in Ogun State is yet to recover and put its house in order. The crisis in the state chapter of the PDP was stoked by the struggle for the control of the party structure between former Governor Gbenga Daniel and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    All attempts made by the National PDP to resolve the crisis failed. The party ended up with two parallel congresses held to pick candidates for the April 2011 polls in the state.

    Daniel who lost out in the struggle, herded his supporters and candidates into the Peoples Party of Nigeria(PPN), a political party he floated at the eleventh hour.

    Three years after, APC seems to to be treading this destructive path and with speed.

    Analysts are worried that the silence of the national leaders on the crisis could have adverse effects on the party. They call for immediate intervention of the party’s national headquarters before it gets out of hand.

    The crisis has been there since 2011 albeit in a smouldering form even though the party leaders had been pretending that crisis did not exist. But on January 9, the bubble burst when hoodlums stormed the secretariat of the APC on Leme, Abiola Way, Abeokuta and sacked its Harmonisation Committee meeting convened by Senator Gbenga Kaka.

    Journalists at the venue for coverage of the proceeding were assaulted while the Harmonisation Committee members comprising National Assembly members from the state fled the troubled spot and later addressed reporters at the Oke – Ilewo Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

    Senator Kaka(Ogun East), Senator Akin Odunsi(Ogun West), Senator Gbenga Obadara(Ogun Central) and other members of the House of Representatives were at the APC secretariat to inaugurate and announce membership of the state Harmonisation Committee.

    The Committee was expected to work in harmony with party leaders to midwife the stages leading to the planned membership registration exercise as well as congresses at the wards, Local government and state levels.

    The crux of the matter is that while the National lawmakers are gunning for return tickets, the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun on the other hand is desirous of cornering the same tickets for his loyalists. Hence, his alleged overt and covert moves to scuttle the chances of Obadara and his colleagues by scheming to foist only his loyalists as members of the Harmonisation Committee members.

    The implication is that whoever gains the upper hand between the Governor and the national lawmakers in the formation of the committee would determine who votes at the congresses and ultimately, who emerges as party’s candidates in the coming 2014 general elections.

    And barely two weeks later when the dust over the violence that witnessed the inauguration of the Harmonisation Committee was yet to settle, hoodlums wielding guns, machetes and clubs invaded the venue of a sensitisation andempowerment programme organised by Senator Obadara at Wasinmi in Ewekoro Local Government Area. They unleashed terror on party members. Many were wounded and taken to hospital for treatment Thus,the programme billed to take place ahead of the party’s planned registration exercise ended abruptly as people scampered to safety.

    By the time the dust finally settled, Senator Obadara’s Police orderly, Sergeant Sunday Akinbode was wounded at the thigh near the pelvic region following gunshot from the thugs .

    Since the outbreak of the violence, there has been accusations and counter – accusation between the State government/Governor Ibikunle Amosun camp and that of the members of the National Assembly from Ogun State on the ticket of the APC who see themselves as victims of the governor’s high- handedness orchestrated to muzzle them, and the desperate move to highjack the party structure for personal political agenda.

    Senators Kaka and Obadara in separate fora accused the Governor Amosun of sponsoring political thugs to intimidate and harass them.

    The duo in conjunction with their colleagues at the National Assembly, also faulted the recent endorsement of the Governor for a second term in office, dismissing it as “sham and an exercise in futility.”

    The law makers accused the governor of planning to perpetrate a wave of political violence in the state and blamed it on them, ostensibly to achieve his political end.

    But the Interim Chairman of the Party in the state, Alh. Tajudeen Bello, who described what is currently happening in the party as “a great surprise” and handiwork of few elements who are desirous of disrupting the peace of the state, alleged that the hoodlums were brought from Lagos by the National Assembly members.

    In Bello’s reckoning, the state harmonising Committee initiated by Senator Kaka (Ogun East), Senator Akin Odunsi (Ogun West), Senator Gbenga Obadara (Ogun Central) and other members of the House of Representatives was a “charade.”

    Bello who addressed reporters on account of the violence at the party Secretariat and festering crisis, blamed the occurrence on the former Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, whom he advised not to destroy a house he has built at a time he is expected to play the role of a “mediator.”

     

     

     

    He argued that what was expected to be done according to the directive of the APC National body is preparation for membership registration and not Harmonisation Committee.

     

    Bello said: “it was a great surprise that a new dimension is being introduced to politicking in Ogun State. Moreso from the so called responsible politicians that the people give very high regard. We got a report from my administrative staff at the Secretariat that some hoodlums came to attack them for no just cause and in the process, they wounded some of our staff there and I had to phone them to quickly vacate the office.

     

    “This is a party that does not believe in violence and you would see the approach of the Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, on the issue of curbing violence and since he has been on the saddle of governance, you will bear me out that violence in all forms has been reduced to zero level.

     

    “And everybody is now sleeping with his two eyes closed. It is so unfortunate that this sort of things would be happening in the days of progress, an era that we have never witnessed in the history of the state.

     

    “However, immediately after the attack, we learnt that our revered leader Chief Olusegun Osoba also came with members of the National Assembly and addressed the press that he was spoiling for a fight, that he was ready for a fight.

     

    “ I would not believe that he said so because he happened to be a builder of this party and we say what you build, you don’t destroy. As an elder statesman, every expectation is that he should always play a mediatory role in case of any issue whatsoever.

     

    “The people can bear me out that the attack was carried out by hoodlums that came to invade the Secretariat. Generally we all believe that they came in through Kobape. You would agree with me that the vehicle came in through Kobape and we believe that they were brought by people who came from lagos, who had ulterior motive.

     

    “Governor Amosun needs encouragement, he has been performing well and he is well received by the majority of the people. What then is the hue and cries about any issue that would distract the attention of the Governor from the laudable projects he is doing in Ogun State.

     

    “This is a party that Nigerians want, a very matured party

    Who ever that is a bad element in the party in the state and so far as they are exposing themselves, we leave them to the judgment of the people.

     

    “We were peaceful in our state. Suddenly we woke and came under attack, I would not know the motive of the people that came. Thank God there were no serious casualty, they have been defeated, the Governor is moving well and charting the progress for the state.”

     

    But the matter took a worrisome dimension during the week when in published letter by Governor accused Obadara and his group of plotting to destablise the state with an implication to undermine the party and stall the progress being recorded in the state by the administration.

     

    Amosun made it explicitly clear that he was neither in competition with past leaders of the state nor members of the National Assembly from Ogun on the platform of the party, as every body’s duty is “clearly defined and distinct,”

    said he had tried in vain to court the cooperation and support of the lawmakers.

     

    Curiously enough, while the Governor attended Obadara’s mother’s burial last year and Senator Kaka’s function when he opened his Senatorial Office in Ijebu – Igbo, none of the Senators had attended any state event organised by Ibikunle led administration since inception.

     

    The lawmakers in turn, fired back, accusing him of intolerance and plot to high-jack the party from the founding fathers.

     

    In a personal letter addressed to him, the National Assembly members comprising three senators and seven House of Representatives legislators reminded him that the Ogun “APC is not his personal estate” that should be administered the way he deemed fit.

     

    They reasoned that it was the intolerance of the Governor that sent party members, including former Deputy Governor of the state, Alh. Rafiu Ogunleye, away to another political party.

     

    They also faulted his claim that they belonged to a group within the party, saying they have neither been involved in factionalisation nor operated outside the APC structure unlike his SIA’s group.

     

    They accused Amosun of practising political harlotry as well as always striving to destroy any party he courts since his days in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to Congress for Progressives Change to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and finally to APC.

     

    The letter reads in part:”why do you always destabilize any political platform you join – PDP, ANPP, CPC, ACN and now APC? Why do you like politics of intolerance and exclusion?

    Why do you like to disregard party supremacy anywhere you go?

     

    “Could the above be the reason why you change party platforms always? You should please note that a political party belongs to all. APC in Ogun State is not your personal estate, where you can do whatever you want.

     

    “We know your intolerant disposition . That is why your threat to deal with the leaders, who SELECTED you above others aspirants is now coming to pass. Your intolerant disposition made people like Alh Rafiu Ogunleye,a revered party leader and former Deputy Governor to leave the party.

     

    “You claimed we are romancing the opposition. That is in your dreams. But If you think you can chase us out like others, you are greatly mistaken. That will not work with us. We are born progressives.We are known progressives.We have NEVER change political platforms in our lives.

     

    “We are ardent believers of our late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo.We are ardent followers of all our current leaders in the progressive family like Chief Bisi Akande, Aremo Segun Osoba,Gen Mohammed Buhari,Asiwaju Bola Tinubu etc and shall ever remain so.Long Live APC.Long Live the progressives.”

     

    But beneath the crisis, according to analysts, is the hidden but the fuelling hands of Chief Osoba, who is believed to be using the Ogun indigenes at the National Assembly to prosecute a proxy war against Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

     

    Many are of the conviction that the lawmakers are only acting the script of the former Governor and hinged the argument on the fact that the Akirogun of Egbaland had never rebuked his foot soldiers either privately or publicly.

    It is being said that he never wanted Amosun to fly the party’s ticket in 2011 but was prevailed upon by the National leader of APC and its Interim National Chairman, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande.

    No fewer than nine aspirants including renowned journalist and publisher, Mr Kayode Soyinka, were jostling for the then ACN governorship tickets when Amosun appeared from the blue and clinched it.

    .However, anxiety is rife in the state that the Presidency has started digging into the APC crisis in Ogun state ostensibly to deepen it and then precipitate its collapse while overture to Amosun is also being contemplated, but how far the APC can go with the crisis, only time would tell

     

  • ‘I am still reflecting on 2015’

    ‘I am still reflecting on 2015’

    Former High Commissioner to Ghana and Chairman of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Senator Musiliu Obanikoro spoke with reporters in Lagos on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crises and the future of the party in Lagos State. EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

    Why did you not contest for the governorship of Lagos in 2011?

    I was on a national assignment at that time. I was the country’s representative in Ghana. There is no way I can abandon the responsibilities given to me by the Federal Government and come home only to be chasing a political office at the state level. Now that I am home, I am strongly reflecting on the last 15 years of civil governance. I will not sit down here and tell you that we don’t have few things to celebrate in the state. But,, by and large, there are still many holes to fill up.

    We need to do more in education so that more people can send their children to public schools.

    We need to revatalise the health sector. Everybody that is somebody now goes overseas for ordinary medical check–up. Even, the governor does his medical check–up abroad. We need to look at the environment. We need to do something about the Olusosun dumpsite at Ojota and the level of pollution. The dumpsite is surrounded by residential communities. I was one of the beneficiaries of Alhaji Lateef Jakande’s housing policy. We need to build houses for the low and middle income earners.

    What is your ambition now?

    As I have said, this is a time for reflection and I am still reflecting. I do believe that Lagos state, with its potentials and the kind of IGR they got every month, can be managed better than it is now. The business of government can be done more transparently.

    The best investment the state government would have made is to invest in education. Instead, the government increased tuition fee from N25, 000 at the LASU to N250, 000.

    Why did you leave the AD for the PDP?

    I left before they formed the ACN. With the benefit of hindsight, I did the right thing by pulling out of the AD. There is no internal democracy in the AD in those days.

    Lagos PDP is not united. How can the party fight for power in an atmosphere of disharmony?

    Well, they are not united either. What you are looking in their party as unity is a peace of the graveyard. An honest member of their party will tell you that all is not well in that party either.

    Do you think that the PDP can defeat the APC in Lagos State?

    I am convinced beyond any doubt that our party, the PDP, is winning Lagos State in 2015. The people in the state will vote en masse for our party because they need change. The indices of rejection of the ruling party in Lagos are there for people that care to see. For example, if you observe clearly, you will realise that the present government has become unnecessarily arrogant. They are running the state as if it is their personal business venture. We are serious; we have what it takes to dismantle this government in the state.

    When last did you meet to discuss party affairs with the likes of Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, Chief Bode George and other chieftains? Recently, we had a meeting at the party secretariat in Ikeja. Our leader as you know is not in the country for now. I spoke with him for about an hour yesterday. We are all united now. As I speak with you, Lagos PDP is one big family.

    Have you all agreed to work together for the same purpose?

    I don’t know why you are particular about our party’s internal affairs.

    Members of the party here in Lagos used to fight one another all the time and that does not show any sign of seriousness.

    That is democracy for you. Democracy is about us dealing with our convictions. We don’t have to see things from the same point of view all the time. But, I think we are more united now than ever before and we are coming out to say enough is enough. Right now, as I speak with you, we are united.

    If you’re still reflecting whether to contest 2015 governorship election in 2015, then it means there is problem somehow

    No. You get it wrong. Let me tell you that I am eight years older than I am when I contested in 2007. A Yoruba proverb says that an elderly person doesn’t act like a child. I have focus. Don’t forget that I have also done other things since 2007. I’ve served my country meritoriously as an Ambassador. May be, the diplomatic part of me is having greater share of me this morning. I want to let people know that we the Lagos PDP is serious about 2015 and we have what it takes to dismantle this elitist government in Lagos State.

    What has the Federal Government done to assist the people of Lagos and the government?

    Federal Government has done a lot to assist Lagos. For instance, our government at the centre ensures that the Third Mainland Bridge does not collapse. We have done that continuously in the last five years. Yar ‘Adua did it, Jonathan has done it. There is the expansion the federal government is doing along Apapa-Oshodi expressway to ensure access in and out of the harbor. There is also the massive renovation done at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at Ikeja. The arrival and departure section have been expanded. And the interesting thing about all these is that, if you goggle the Ministry in-charge of these works to get how much was expended on each of the project, you will get them stated clearly. Whatever question on cost that anyone asks the state government officials on any project, their reply used to be, it is provided for in the budget.

    The APC is saying PDP is corrupt. You’re also saying Lagos state government being run by APC is corrupt. One finds it difficult to believe both sides?

    They will say anything they want because they are seeking what doesn’t belong to them. We are telling the people and we have demonstrated to the people that we have the capacity to deal with erring members. For instance, during Yar’Adua administration, the Minister of Health, Mrs. Grange erred and President Yar’Adua fired her immediately. During Obasanjo’s tenure, the then Minister of Education, Dr. Fabian Osuji was also fired. We forced Senator Nwabara to step down as President of the Senate. This is a progressive action from our party.

    Under President Goodluck Jonathan, with all kinds of corrupt practices by top members of his cabinet, nobody has been fired, in spite of people’s condemnation of actions taken by some of the cabinet members?

    It will be very unfair to ask such question because we are looking at an un interrupted 15 years governance by two political parties. It will be very unfair of you to reduce focus on only Jonathan’s administration. We are saying we have history of dealing with corruption. Do they even have any history at all in their party?

    What about the current Oduah scandal in the Aviation sector?

    Oh yes! Accusation has been made in the open. Panel have been set up to look into the matter, the president have received the report. I am sure in good time; he would come out with a position. Be that as it may, nobody can sweep under the carpet what PDP had done to tackle corruption. Their party has not done anything; that is what we are saying. Everything they have accused us of doing, they are worse off. They accused Stella Oduah of buying two armoured cars for N255 million. The one which the Lagos state governor is riding up and down in Lagos is more expensive than Oduah’s car. He is a public officer too who draws his salary from tax payer’s money. It is the same standard, it doesn’t matter. It is even more damning for the governor because he is elected by the people and he is supposed to uphold the trust and confidence of the people of Lagos. So, their own is even worst in that case, but it is unfortunate the media refuses to look at that area.

     

  • Tackle your leadership crisis, Bayelsa PDP urges APC

    Tackle your leadership crisis, Bayelsa PDP urges APC

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bayelsa State chapter, has urged the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to resolve the crisis rocking the state’s branch of the party.

    PDP, in a statement by its Chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd), said it noted with concern, the tension among the three factions of the APC, led by a former defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain, Ebikibina Miriki, Richard Kpodo and Tiwei Orunimighe, all claiming leadership of the party.

    Hailing the state government’s statement on its commitment to the protection of life and property of law-abiding citizens, including APC members, PDP enjoined the national leadership of APC to resolve the crisis and announce the leader in the state, stressing that it cannot afford to be thrown into chaos.

  • Chieftain urges APC supporters to shun personal interests

    Chieftain urges APC supporters to shun personal interests

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Prince Olufemi Adekanmbi, at the weekend lauded the inauguration of the Interim Committee of the party in the state.

    He urged the party’s leadership not to allow their personal ambition frustrate efforts of the party’s national executives to turn APC to the ruling party at the centre.

    Adekanmbi was reacting to the disagreement that trailed the inauguration of a 31-member interim Executive Committee in Ondo State.

    The Committee is chaired by the former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN).

    At the ceremony, former Commissioner for Information, Prince Olu Adegboro, was appointed the Secretary and Chief Ebenezer Akinwekomi became the treasurer.

    Some groups led by a Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Environment, Mr. Bola Ilori, and Chief Sola Iji, expressed grievances over the inauguration of the committee, saying the executives were not duly appointed.

    The group, which has members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in its fold, said strangers were picked for their own slots.

    Adekanmbi urged members of the party to work together as a team ahead of the 2015 general elections, saying the party cannot afford to lag behind in Ondo State again.

    The APC leader noted that this was not the best time for the leaders of the party to allow ambitions kill the vision of the party’s national leaders to change the fortune of the party in the state.

    While urging APC’s leadership at the national level to wade into the crisis, Adekanmbi said all other members of other political parties that merged to form the APC must be carried along in the party’s affairs to harmonise its members.

  • Ondo lawmakers shun Mimiko’s budget presentation

    Ondo lawmakers shun Mimiko’s budget presentation

    It was meant to be a symbolic and colourful ceremony. But Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s budget presentation was anything but colourful.

    Of the 26 members of the Assembly, 17 shunned the presentation.

    Only nine lawmakers were present; 12 stayed around the premises of the Assembly Complex as Mimiko presented the N162 billion 2014 budget.

    The Assembly is made up of 25 Labour Party (LP) members and one Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member.

    It was gathered that the lawmakers who shunned the presentation were aggrieved over “non-consultation with the Assembly on the budget presentation and poor implementation of the 2013 budget”.

    The presentation was presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Dare Emiola.

    The Speaker, Samuel Adesina, is ill.

    The Majority Leader, Ifedayo Akinsoyinu, was present.

    Other principal officers, including the Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Fidelis Akinwolemiwa (Ondo East); his Vice, Akindele Adeniyi (Akure South); Chairman, House Committee on Information, Oyebo Aladetan (Ilaje I) and Minority Leader Akpoebi Lubi, were absent.

    Though Akinsoyinu blamed the poor turnout on official assignments, those absent said they were not on any official assignment.

    They said they shunned the sitting because they were not properly informed of the presentation.

    One of them, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “We are not happy with the level of development in Ondo State. Projects have been moving at a snail’s pace and the governor has failed this year.”

    Speaking with The Nation over the phone, Lubi said the lawmakers were not happy with the “poor” implementation of the 2013 budget, which “recorded 30 per cent performance”.

    He said on December 24, the lawmakers rejected a re-ordering budget of N1.5 billion sent to the House by the governor.

    Describing the budget presentation as “illegal”, Lubi said the governor needs two-third majority of the House before he can present a budget.

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Ade Adetimehin, praised the lawmakers for “standing against illegality” and for being alive to their duties.

    Adetimehin alleged that Mimiko had been mismanaging the state’s funds and urged the lawmakers to impeach him.

    Former Secretary of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Mr. Adegboyega Adedipe challenged Mimiko to tell the people what he achieved with last year’s budget, adding: “We are not surprised that the implementation of the 2013 budget was scored 30 per cent by the lawmakers because we are aware that Mimiko had been mismanaging the state’s funds.

    “People in the riverside areas are crying because they have not enjoyed the dividends of democracy, even though President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, are their kinsmen. It is well known that Mimiko is very close to Jonathan, so we urge the President to visit the riverside areas of Ondo State and see how the people are suffering.”

    In the proposed budget, tagged: “Caring Heart Phase Five”, N69.681 billion was earmarked for recurrent expenditure and N92.319 billion for capital expenditure.

    Mimiko said the budget would be financed with the N43 billion Statutory Allocation; N15 billion Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR); N10 billion Value Added Tax (VAT); N7 billion roll over fund; N20 billion Mineral Derivation Fund and N5 billion from the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P), among others.

  • Treason, what treason?

    Treason, what treason?

    •Call for presidential impeachment cannot amount to treason, since impeachment ais a constitutional provision

    On December 15, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the All Progressives Congress (APC) interim national publicity secretary, called on the National Assembly to commence immediate impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan, for sundry constitutional infractions. He claimed he spoke with a “high sense of responsibility”.

    Alhaji Mohammed accused the Jonathan Presidency, and the smarting Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), of plotting to plunge the country into chaos, by courting the courts to declare vacant the seats of its five former governors that just defected to the APC, despite the precedence of a Supreme Court judgment that rejected a similar prayer, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo attempted to remove estranged Vice President Atiku Abubakar, for defecting into the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

    Hinting at a possible judicial collusion bordering on high corruption, Alhaji Mohammed warned of “widespread repercussions as the APC has resolved that henceforth, every act of impunity of the PDP and the Presidency would be met with stiff resistance in the form of a vociferous telegraphing of people power, the likes of which have not been witnessed in these parts”. He added that since impeachment is “stipulated in the 1999 Constitution”, and the Jonathan government is at sea on security, corruption, massive unemployment and mass hunger, not to mention impunity, impeachment was a legitimate means to remove the president.

    But Dr. Reuben Abati, chief presidential spokesperson, dismissed “the reckless and irresponsible call by the APC” for Jonathan’s impeachment; and warned that “the APC and any persons who make themselves its willing tools for the breach of public order and safety will be made to face the full sanctions of the law. Those who are threatening fire and brimstone,” he declared, “should be ready for consequences of treasonable action”, adding that the APC could not browbeat the courts in pending political cases before them.

    Beyond legitimate attack and response, emotion and counter-emotion and partisan bile and counter-bile, the two issues here are impeachment and treason.

    Does an urge to impeach the president amount to treason? Certainly not, for a provision of the Constitution cannot be said to subvert the same constitution. That would be a contradiction in terms.

    But could a call for impeachment be reckless? Yes, if it is just to settle political scores; and thus slaughter the Constitution on the altar of crass partisanship. But is that the case here? Political exchanges are never clear-cut, for emotions mix with stark facts to produce a strange mixture.

    Still, the Jonathan Presidency would appear legitimately charged with flat-footedness in anti-corruption (witness the Stella Oduah case, for instance, in which the president appears helpless even with the House of Representatives asking him to dismiss the minister); and with dire constitutional breaches (the partisan abuse of the police in Rivers State; and the reprehensible conduct of the police commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu, in virtually levying war against the state government; and against real or perceived presidential opponents in that state).

    The Rivers State case is especially serious, for it taints the Presidency, and somewhat projects it as recklessly contemptible of the law that created that high office. That is a recipe for disaster, except the presidency changes tack and calls the constitutional bandits at the “front” to order; or faces possible sanction itself, if the opposition could muster the required number in parliament.

    Still, the impeachment option should be the very last, for it signals a point of no return for a republic grilling in illegality perpetrated by a president, its supposed guarantor-in-chief of law and legitimacy.

    So, let neither side go for broke. But let the Jonathan Presidency do the needful, after a frank soul-searching for, if the bitter truth must be told, its relentless impunity has turned PDP into a boiling cauldron; and pushed the country to this sorry pass.

    But as the opposition should be cautious in its utterances, let no one criminalise a justified call for impeachment. It’s no use issuing threats and flexing muscles, when the administration could quietly lower the political temperature by doing the right thing by law. It is the manifest folly of projecting power instead of projecting reason.

  • Can APC sustain tempo?

    Can APC sustain tempo?

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) is enlarging its coast. But, there are more hurdles to cross. EMMANUEL OLADESU and LEKE SALAUDEEN examine the challenges that will confront the opposition party, ahead of 2015 general elections.

    The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thought that it was a joke. When the merger was being mooted, its chieftains predicted doom for the merging parties. Even, when the All Progressives Congress (APC) was registered by the electoral commission, PDP chieftains dismissed it as an empty threat. But, following the defection of five aggrieved PDP governors to the APC, the ruling party became jittery. Now, the stage for a titanic battle for power at the federal and state levels in the next general elections.

    The decision of the defunct parties-the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)-and a section of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to evolve a strong platform was a major breakthrough for the opposition. There is political streamlining, as reflected in the restoration of the two-party system, and the prospects of a one-party state is dimmed.

    “The chance of rigging will be slim in 2015,” said Mr. Olawumi Gasper, former Rector of Lagos State Polytechnic. “It will be a battle of ideas. Nigerians will have clear choice. There will be a ruling party and a strong opposition and the country will make progress,” he added. The National Secretary of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Mr. Ayo Opadokun, supported this argument. He said that a credible alternative platform represents a government-in-waiting. “Democracy will flourish because of the role of the opposition in democracy”, he stressed.

    However, many challenges will confront the main opposition party as it prepares for future polls. The prelude to the 2015 battle will be the governorship elections in Osun and Ekiti states next year.

    The APC Interim National Women Leader, Mrs. Sharom Ikeazor, spoke on the hurdles, shortly before declaring open the Southwest APC Women Wing in Lagos, last week. She admonished the party leadership to intensify the campaign for electoral reforms. “Anambra election was enough lesson for us in the APC. Our candidate was the best, but the electoral commission was compromised. We need to intensify the campaign for the sanctity of the ballot box so that we can have one man one vote”, Okeazor said.

    Adekunle-Ibrahim said the “electoral carnage” may continue to work against the APC, if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is not purged of its unpatriotic elements. But, he also emphasised the need for the party to put its house in order. “APC has two elections in Ekiti and Osun. As the party is enlarging its coast, it should also protect its gains. Ekiti and Osun are parts of its strongholds. To the best of my knowledge, the party is united in Osun. In Ekiti, the APC has to unite the party and settle the rift between the camp of the governor and supporters of Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele. It is better for the APC to mend the crack,” he said.

    The APC leaders made enormous sacrifices. Former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu, who explained the vision and mission of the party, to reporters in Lagos, said that it was formed in the national interest. He recalled that the leaders of the merging parties decided to forfeit their platforms, sink their slight differences and make sacrifice for the country. But analysts contend that the leaders must be ready to make more sacrifices, ahead of 2015, to get to the promised land.

    As the APC harmonises the ACN, CPC, ANPP and APGA structures at state, local and ward levels, there is the additional challenge of accommodating the ‘new PDP structures’ in states controlled by the governors that recently defected to the party. The promise made to the governors must also be honoured by the leadership to engender trust and confidence.

    The interim APC leadership reflects the spread of the party across the six geo-political zones. Although the setting up of the structure generated some skirmishes, it was not essentially destabilising. According to observers, what was at work was the internal crisis resolution mechanism and the mutual trust among the founding fathers. It is great lesson in party management. Conflict is part of politics, but it should not be allowed to fester to the level of becoming a threat to the existence of the organisation.

    How to formalise ward, local government, state and national structures is the next assignment during its proposed inaugural national convention. It is to the credit of the party leadership that the APC has, so far, being run as a mass movement. “What we have observed is that ACN, ANPP, and CPC members do not retain their old identities in the new party. Therefore, the APC can’t be polarised by caucuses,” said Adekunle-Ibrahim. “In setting up party leadership structures, not only are the founding fathers expected to make more sacrifices, they should also begin to build a culture of equity, fairness and justice in matters relating to the choice of party officers,” he added.

    When a party is growing in leaps and bounds, party management becomes more challenging. Many believe that it will be counter-productive for the new APC members to relate to the organisation as chieftains of the old ACN, ANPP, CPC and APGA. The interim chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, had allayed this fear. He said that the APC will not recognise any senior and junior partners, adding that members will enjoy equal treatment.

    The events taking place in the APC may ultimately influence the PDP’s response to many critical issues. Eyes are also on the APC as it brainstorms on the choice of its presidential candidate and his running mate. The flag bearer will mirror the platform, its manifestoes, ethos, values and promise. Whoever will emerge is important, but how he emerges is more important. The various positions and approaches germane to choice, selection and shadow election should be harmonised without internal bickering and bitterness. If the party puts its house in order at that level and there is no post-primary crisis, it will be fortified to forge ahead for the most critical battle.

    The task of mobilising for power shift in 2015 is critical. The ruling party may turn the heat on the APC through intimidation, harassment and blackmail. Pockets of dissention among the co-travellers may not be ruled out.

    There are issues of leadership ego that must be handled with care, if the party is to avoid internal crisis in some states. For instance, in Kano State, Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso and his predecessor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, are political foes, who are now in the same camp. Shekarau defeated Kwakwanso in 2003. But Kwakwanso bounced back in 2011. Also, the APC should reconcile former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa and Governor Aliyu Wamakko. The two are political rivals.

    A party source disclosed at the weekend that reconciliation committees for Kano and Sokoto states have swung into action. The source said that former Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari would reconcile Shekarau and Kwankwaso. “The elders are aware of the differences among some frontline members and they are taking necessary steps to bring them together. We are preparing safe landing measures for Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola in Osun State and Chief Segun Oni in Ekiti State, if they eventually join the APC. We want every member to feel free and exercise their rights in a peaceful atmosphere. In our party, there is no joiner, no founder. That’s what Chief Akande said.”

    A university don, Dr David Aworawo, observed that the APC had started well. He said one of the challenges confronting the party is the reconciliation of divergent views and interests. as the immediate challenge of the APC. Aworawo, who teaches at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), noted that political parties are formed by people who share the same ideology and philosophy. With the merger of the new PDP, he said that more work should be done. “The new PDP chieftains now in the PDP have their interest to pursue and achieve. So, the immediate task now is how to reconcile the divergent interest of the conservative PDP and the progressive APC”, he said.

    In Aworawo’s view, the challenge can be surmounted. “What both sides need to do is to shift from left and right to the centre. The reconciliation of extreme positions is possible, especially in the overall interest of the country. General Muhammadu Buhari in the midst of progressives today. Some people considered him as a reactionary and conservative element. But today, Buhari is a leader of the progressives,” he added.

    A lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Dr Tunji Ogunyemi, advised the party to accommodate the five PDP governors without discrimination. The major task before the APC, he said, is grassroots mobilisation. “The party should reach out to the rural areas by sensitising the grassroots people on the new development in the polit,” he said. However, Ogunyemi cautioned the leadership of the party against the fifth columnist. He warned that the PDP may penetrate its ranks by planting spies in the party.

    Civil rights activist Shehu Sani urged the APC to devise a mechanism for checkmating infiltration by PDP lackeys into the party. He said the growing influx of PDP chieftains and their quick embrace by the party is a matter of concern. Sani said that while the APC opens its doors, it should be conscious of plots, mischief and sabotage by infiltrators.

    APC also faces the test of internal democracy. Sani said: “The APC must imbibe the culture of internal democracy. It must provide a level playing ground for all its members and avoid the imposition of candidates, which have in the past contributed to the failures of opposition parties in winning elections.”

    Ogunyemi supported this view. He advised the party to create a level playing ground for aspirants to test their popularity. Through that, he said, members would be involved in the selection process and whoever that emerges will be acceptable to all and sundry.

    The party’s interim National Legal Adviser, Dr Muiz Banire, has assured that there would be no imposition of candidates. “Nobody can tell you who will be the presidential candidate. We will be more transparent in picking the party’s standard bearer than any other party. The APC is a credible alternative to the PDP. We have to demonstrate to the whole world that we are superior to them. There will be no imposition of candidates. This is a new era. People will decide who should be the party’s standard bearer”, he said.

    Banire cited the registration of members as a challenge. “We expect a huge turnout at all registration centres. We are going to provide necessary logistics that would make it easier for people to register without stress. I am sure that committed members of the party will be willing to assist the party in providing some resources to ensure a hitch-free registration. I am sure we will surmount all the challenges that may arise”, he added.

    Sani advised the APC to device credible means of assuaging the fears of Christians in the North and the Igbos in the South, who are complaining about marginalisation by the party. This, he said, can be achieved through equitable representation in the party’s National Executive Committee. “This will help in neutralising the propaganda and misinformation by the adversaries of the party now using religion to smear it”, he said.

  • 2015: Merger redefines political landscape

    2015: Merger redefines political landscape

    The merger of a PDP faction with the opposition yesterday is the biggest political cross-over since 1999. The merger seemed to have shifted political calculations in the country going into 2015 elections. Bolade Omonijo analysed the new political configuration

    This appears to be the season of the unprecedented. Before the merger of three major political parties – the Congress for Political Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) was formalized in July following the registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); there had been speculation that the move would be aborted before the consummation.

    However, four months after, the merger seems to have come to stay. The leading lights of the political movement have traversed the entire country selling their position on the Nigeria Project and insisting that the time had come for a change.

    Soon after, the crisis within the ruling PDP became unmanageable and the party was split down the middle. In the House of Representatives, the Senate, the party secretariat and the states, the PDP became a party divided against itself. Would it fall in 2015?

    Yesterday’s defection from the party by a faction that had gone by the appellation new PDP for months is the strongest indication that things would not be the same again. Those who left the PDP include the chairman of the faction, Alhaji Kawu Baraje who was a former Acting National Chairman of the party, a former national secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola who was also the immediate past governor of Osun State, former governors Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, Danjuma Goje of Gombe and Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa State.

    Others, Governors Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Abdulafattah Ahmed of Kwara and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers have taken the plunge and it remains to be seen the weight to be attached to their crossing.

    2011 and 2015: a comparative analysis

    The figures from 2011 suggest that APC may be poised to give PDP a strong fight at the 2015 general elections. In 2011, the elections in Kano showed that the leaders now in APC dictated the pace. In the presidential election, the party’s candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, polled 1.62 million votes, followed at a distance by ANPP’s Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau who was the governor of the state. In the third place was President Goodluck Jonathan, the PDP’s candidate with 440,686 votes, leaving ACN’s Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in the fourth position with a paltry 42,363 votes. Now, all the four leading parties in the state are in the state structure. Thus, it has become academic to ask which the dominant party in the state is. While the dynamics swung in favour of the PDP in the hotly contested governorship poll, the leading parties merely shuffled their positions.

    The celebrated performance of Kwankwaso since he resumed the office he was made to vacate in 2003 has strengthened his position in the state, and Buhari remains a cult figure, especially among the masses and the youth in the entire far North.

    If things do not change and the APC is united going into 2015 elections, no other party stands a chance.

    Kwara has always presented a fascinating scenario to political analysts. For decades, the late Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki ruled the waves. He literally dictated the pace of things and direction of voting. It took his disaffection with the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1983 to pave the way for the Unity Party of Nigeria. He literally singlehandedly installed Alhaji Shaaba Lafiagi as governor in the Third Republic and Rear Admiral Mohammed Alabi Lawal at inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999.

    In 2003, he brought in his son, Bukola Saraki who repeated the feat in 2007. However, a parting of way between father and son in 2011 saw the emergence of the current governor who had received the blessing and support of the former governor, now in the Senate. So, just before the transition of the former strongman, another had emerged. The former governor has f a full hold on the PDP structure in Kwara State. He is in the Senate alongside Lafiagi who is a strong member of his political tendency. If there is understanding among the political roller coasters from the legacy parties that have coalesced into the APC in Kwara, victory is certain in all elections in 2015.

    In the 2011 presidential election, the Bukola Saraki-led PDP was credited with 288, 243 or 64 per cent of the total votes cast while the CPC polled 83,603 and the ACN 62,432. As in Kano, all three tendencies are now in the APC. It is a formidable platform.

    In Sokoto, the dominant parties in all the elections in 2011 were the CPC and PDP. Governor Wamakko’s disenchantment with the party had begun to show at the PDP presidential primaries in Abuja where delegates from Sokoto clearly voted against President Jonathan. At the presidential election, CPC polled 540,769 votes to PDP’s 309,067. While the reverse was the case in the governorship election that returned Wamakko to office, all the elections showed that the PDP and CPC decided what happened in the state. They also proved the electoral worth of the governor. When it is noted that former Governor Attahiru Bafarawa is also involved in the formation of the APC, it is obvious that the next elections are for the APC to lose in the state.

    The situation in Rivers State is not as straightforward. While the PDP swept the polls the last time, the defection of Governor Amaechi is an acid test of his popularity. How much of the victory in 2011 could be attributed to Amaechi’s personal charm and what proportion could be credited to the party structure? At the moment, the governor retains hold of the governance structure as well as the dominant faction of the party. However, the sentiment that a son of the region is President and the hostility of other PDP governors in the South South would test the resilience of the governor who was Speaker of the House of Representatives for eight year. The fact that he retains the control of the legislature and representatives in the National Assembly is an indication that he is a strong factor in his own right.

    Hitherto, Rivers has been a one-party state and is renowned for an uncanny ability to turn up crucial votes for the winning party. Would the trend continue in 2015? A call cannot be easily made at the moment until the caliber of candidates and other factors unfold.

    The trend in Adamawa where Governor Murtala Nyako was one of the first to indicate that it was all over with the PDP is not much different from the Rivers State scenario. Nyako has enemies within and without. The move to register the Peoples Democratic Movement spearheaded by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been attributed to the uneasy relationship he has at home with Nyako. It is to be noted, too, that the party’s national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur hails from the state. The situation remains foggy. How it turns out remains to be seen.

    In Nasarawa State where CPC’s Governor Tanko Al-Makura holds sway, he narrowly won the 2011 governorship poll. He has since been making efforts to consolidate his hold on power. He has a formidable foe in the PDP that has former Governor Abdullahi Adamu as captain. Now that Adamu is in the same boat with the governor, Al-Makura could breathe easy. However, it remains to be seen whether interests and ego would not affect their relationship in the run up to 2015. United, the state would remain in the APC fold.

    If the scenario prevailing today remains till 2015, the general election would be the first to provide real contest. In the entire Far North, comprising states in the North East and North West, 13 in all, the PDP will have to struggle to rake up sizeable votes. In the Middle Belt of North central states, both major parties remain strong. The South East and South South remains impregnable for the PDP and APC will have to struggle to make the 25 per cent mark outside Rivers and Edo. How fast Governor Rochas Okorocha, backed by the likes of ex-Governor Achike Udenwa can move remains to be seen.

    The South West is likely to remain a stronghold of the APC. It has a tradition of filing behind progressive parties and, the fact that there would be a strong contest would likely encourage the people to votes in high numbers for the tile-tested progressive platform.

    If it were to be a football march, commentators would describe it as a crunchy tie. The challenge is to ensure that all elections henceforth, starting with Ekiti and Osun next year are free, fair and credible. Otherwise, rigging becomes the overriding factor.

  • Governors’ defection long overdue, says presidential aide

    A MID fears that some governors defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) may affect the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Ahmed Gulak, said yesterday that the action is a welcome development.

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Gulak said their movement was no threat to the PDP and the Presidency ahead of the 2015 general elections.

    He said the pronouncement by the aggrieved governors would spur an influx of new members to the PDP from other parties.

    Reacting to the defection, Gulak said: “Well, I know as of fact that five of them say that they will now join APC. But I know that two of them issued statements that they are not part of that, Governor of Niger and Governor of Jigawa State. This is the fact on ground.”

    “And I believe those others, for long time and I have said it before, that their hearts have not been in PDP. It is good that they have shown the world that they have taken a stand. So that PDP will not be distracted, so that PDP, as a party, will be focused to build our party because a lot of people are waiting for this moment. A lot of people even in the APC, ACN, ANPP have contacted me that they want to come back to PDP and they were just waiting for what happened today to happen. And to us, it is a good development.

    “The Presidency does not feel threatened, the PDP does not feel threatened. The PDP is the party to beat. We have had it before; even people who occupied higher offices left the party and came back to the party. Outside there, there is nothing, it’s empty. PDP is the only party.”

    The presidential aide also maintained that the PDP will be ready to welcome them back if they decide to return.

    “Reconciliation is an ongoing thing. If they go outside, they are like those that went there before them and test that the outside there is empty, they are always welcome back home, like we did before.” He stated