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Tag: aggrieved

  • ‘Why Oshiomhole must meet aggrieved aspirants’

    ‘Why Oshiomhole must meet aggrieved aspirants’

    A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in Edo Central senatorial district, Comrade Mathew Emiohe, yesterday advised Governor Adams Oshiomhole to lead a reconciliation committee to meet the aspirants that lost in the primary.

    He gave the advice in Benin on the heels of the PDP governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s declaration, which attracted thousands of PDP faithful across the three senatorial districts.

    Emiohe, a staunch backer of the Edo State Governor Pius Odubu, said the call became necessary, following the discontentment among APC members. He said: “Regardless of the fact that the APC controls political structures in the state and at the centre, it must approach the September 10 governorship election as a united and indivisible family, if it must come out victorious.

    He said that a situation where some proxy of the governor are sent to meet with some of these aspirants, who are still aggrieved, does not augur out well in healing wound.

    Emioge said: “Agreed the primary may have been contested and won but the major battle ahead is winning the September 10th Governorship election which is very key to the APC in the state and that is why the governor as the father of the party in the state should meet all the aspirants one on one and nobody should be neglected because this is politics”

    “Some of the aspirants, no doubt have huge supporters who are waiting patiently for direction from their political leaders as the governorship election approaches. The governor must come down to the level of all and reconcile everybody. It shouldn’t be the case of winner takes it all.

    “We must realize that the opposition PDP are not relenting in their battle to take over the state at all cost and therefore if Edo must continue to remain an APC state, then everybody must be carried along. He added.

  • Lamido begs aggrieved members

    Lamido begs aggrieved members

    Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido has urged members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to scuttle the party’s chances at the polls.

    He spoke at an emergency reconciliation meeting in the Government House, Dutse.

    It  was convened to use the elections’ postponement to reconcile aggrieved members, to ensure the party’s victory in the elections.

    The meeting, involving party stakeholders, was called on the request of the governorship campaign committee under the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Mahamud.

    Governor  Lamido enjoined members, especially those aspiring for elective positions, to forgive, forget and unite to achieve the party’s goals.

    He said: “Whoever feels offended should take it as an act of Allah Almighty. You are  aware that everybody cannot be the governorship candidate. It must be one person, so also the remaining positions.

    “This is a family meeting, it is an opportunity to thank all of you for your efforts and commitment during the campaigns. There is need for more efforts and commitments in order to sweep the polls.”

  • Aggrieved PDP aspirants demand refund

    Aggrieved PDP aspirants demand refund

    Aggrieved aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) across the country have demanded refund of their nomination fees and money spent on mobilisation during primaries.

    They threatened not to work for the PDP and its candidates until their demands were met.

    The aspirants, who met in Abuja yesterday under the aegis of PDP Aspirants Forum (PAF), claimed that the party played a fast one on them during the primaries.

    They wondered why PDP allowed them to pay nomination fees and mobilise supporters when it knew they were preferred candidates.

    It was learnt that President Goodluck Jonathan, sensing disastrous outings in the forthcoming elections for the party, has commenced moves to pacify the aggrieved aspirants.

    They insisted that they would not allow the party to use them again.

    The defeated aspirants maintained they will not work for persons who robbed them of their rights.

    But Prof. Tunde Adeniran and a traditional ruler from Bayelsa State, Asara Asara, pleaded with the aspirants to bury the hatchets and ensure the PDP does not suffer further slide as elections approach.

    The duo appealed to them to hear out the President first while commending the aggrieved aspirants for not defecting despite the perceived injustices against them.

    The aspirants, who took turns to speak out their minds, said the first step for reconciliation should be refund of the money for obtaining forms and writing off other expenses incurred.

    The interim Head of Secretariat of PAF, Chief Richard Lamai, said “the leadership of the party had carried on as if nothing happened and without due regard to aspirants who invested resources and time in building our party.”

  • Aggrieved Lagos Assembly aspirants agree to move for party’s victory

    Aggrieved Lagos Assembly aspirants agree to move for party’s victory

    The 241 aspirants for the Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who were aggrieved over the conduct of the primaries have met with the leadership of the party and agreed to put their differences behind and work for the general interest of the group in the general elections.

    At their meeting with the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the aspirants thanked the party leadership for the opportunity given to them to express their displeasure with the way the candidates for the House were elected at the primary. Chairman of the group and immediate past leader of Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Legislative House, Hon. Niyi Fadare, thanked Tinubu for finding time to meet with the group.

    Fadare, who contested for the Lagos House of Assembly in Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency I, also commended Tayo Ayinde, one of the Lagos governorship aspirants, who initiated the idea of addressing the problem as a group. According to him, Ayinde held several meetings with the group, urging all them to bury the hatchet and join hands with other party members to work towards victory for the APC in the forthcoming general elections.

    On his part, Tinubu lauded the spirit of sportsmanship displayed by the aspirants and urged them to close ranks to ensure victory for the party at the general elections, adding that the party is big enough to take care of their respective interests.

    The National Leader urged the aspirants to get involved at different stages of campaign activities from their various constituencies to the national level, saying that all members of the party cannot hold elective and appointive positions at the same time.

    Dr Ibrahim Qazeem, from Somolu constituency 2, who is secretary of the forum, assured the National Leader of the readiness of all the aspirants to work towards  the success of the party at different levels of election come February.

    Hon. Jimoh Olufunke, from Ojo constituency 2, noted that the idea of coming together as aggrieved aspirants has given them opportunity to get to know each other better and to better appreciate the challenges facing the party in the state.

    Tinubu urged them to continue to operate under the umbrella of forum, saying that he would always be available to guide them whenever his input is needed.

  • 16 aggrieved Pdp governorship aspirants head to court

    16 aggrieved Pdp governorship aspirants head to court

    Sixteen aggrieved governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Rivers State, led by Lancelot Anyaya, are to seek redress in court on the ward congress of the party at the weekend.

    Spokesman of the aggrieved aspirants, Mr Soalabo West, explained that “to be clear, there were no elections in the various wards in Rivers State, even though attempts were later made at some secret locations to stage-manage what was a Grassroots Democratic Initiative (GDI) ward congresses”.

    West, who spoke last night in Port Harcourt, the state capital, said the sore points the aggrieved parties would table in court is that the five-man panel set up to conduct the ward congress did not show up at the party’s secretariat.

    He also alleged that the team went to the home of  a former minister, where they were lavishly entertained and wrote the results and concocted reports on Friday night”.

    According to him, the panel “surprisingly” returned to Abuja  same Saturday.

    The spokesman said the aggrieved aspirants  would tell the court that no electoral material was distributed at the various venues.

    He said this made party faithful to wait in vain.

    West added that in some cases, like in Asari Toru Local Government Area, some aspirants were allegedly attacked by GDI supporters.

    Listing the names of the five-man electoral panel and the Electoral Appeal Panel, which the national executive committee of the PDP set up for the state, West claimed that the people had personal relationships with former Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike.

    The spokesman said it would amount to a waste of time if the aggrieved aspirants tabled their grievances at the PDP appeal panel.

    West alleged that ward delegates, who bought forms for the exercise, were not allowed to return their forms at the PDP secretariat, despite  meeting the deadline to return the forms.

    The spokesman said the aggrieved aspirants would also tell the court that there had been fundamental breaches of the PDP constitution and guidelines, adding that the party failed to follow its constitution and due process in line with the constitution of executive committees in wards and local governments.

    One of the aspirants, Prince Tonye Princewill, faulted the exercise.

    He urged the PDP’s national executives “to avoid anything that will distract Mr. President and resolve the Rivers State issue, before it gets out of hand”.

    In a statement in Port Harcourt yesterday, Princewill said:  “The congress has already been done. The panel  has been settled and the electoral umpire has been compromised. All their planning was in vain. For them, the congress was just an opportunity for the masses to fight and destroy things. They do not care if Rivers people die, as long as they win. We do. We care; that’s why we steered clear.

    “The Wike-led PDP exco, does not realise that we are several steps ahead of them; none of the key aspirants was involved in the congresses. That should be a signal for the party. Our silence will speak louder than our words. In the end, PDP will either sit up and address this sham or it will lose us and lose Rivers State. Nothing is impossible.”

  • Jonathan, PDP ‘ll reconcile with aggrieved governors, says Dickson

    The Chairman of the National Reconciliation Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan and the party will soon reconcile with all aggrieved governors.

    He said none of the governors is out to allow PDP to disintegrate.

    He also said the ongoing reconciliation of his committee has yielded results.

    Dickson, who spoke with reporters in Abuja, admitted that he is in touch with the aggrieved governors, some of who he described as his seniors.

    He said: “As I said earlier, you can only have too little reconciliation; we cannot have too much reconciliation. We have to reconcile, reconcile and reconcile. The Chief Tony Anenih-led committee is doing a great job which we are also going to look at. I am saying that in the context of the remark I earlier made that our primary focus is the non-PDP states and we are doing so precisely because of this issue.

    “I know that the Anenih committee is doing a lot of work in terms of engaging the governors and I am not aware of any PDP governor who is not happy with the party. All of us are in the party.

    “Yes, there may be one little complain but these are all legitimate because politics allows for that. The important thing is how we reconcile all of these. There are efforts going on by the Anenih’s committee and the Ekwueme’s report and I believe that, by the end of the day, you will have a truly reconciled set of governors because they are major stakeholders in the party and none of them will want the party to disintegrate contrary to what you hear.

    “We are colleagues and we talk. They all want a strong PDP but they are also entitled to their expectations and even when there are ambitions tied to it because it is politics and also because, sometimes in this game, you have got to manage differences of opinion, ideas and sometimes a clash of interest and sometimes even a clash of ego. So, all of that is part of the game.

    “So, I think, with what the senior members of the party are doing and I am happy that the seniors drive some of these efforts with our little humble support, we will resolve the problems. I don’t think it is true that the national chairman made the kind of comment that you talked about.

    “It is very possible he was quoted out of context because the national chairman is the head of our party and subjected to the person who is the overall leader, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

    “You are also aware that the President himself, a few days back, engaged some of the governors you are talking about. I am also in touch with some of them because they are my leaders and I am privileged to work with some as colleagues.

    “What you read does not matter, we meet at different levels and all share common idea of a united strong party. At all times, we should be united by national interest. Differences of views are allowed but you do all of that within the context of a common view about the national interest. “

    Replying a question, Dickson said that his committee had succeeded in its mission by clearing the coast of the PDP’s forthcoming National Convention.

    He said: “The reconciliation committee has reconciled the aggrieved parties that went to court, seeking various court orders, restraining the proposed mini convention.

    “We have recorded what I think can be described as a success because the gentlemen have come to make a case and made known their grievances to the reconciliation committee. So, we went into it and happily, at the end of the day, they saw the need to voluntarily withdraw the action they filed in court because with the committee, they have seen seriousness on the part of the party to address some of the cases which were already arising from those meetings.

    “They signed a letter of withdrawal and wrote to the judge in charge of the case and to their previous counsel that they wanted to withdraw.

    “Our expectation is that the court, upon being made aware of the decision of the plaintiffs to withdraw or being notified of their desire to withdraw the case amicably, should have, there and then, dismissed the case because the court exists to promote reconciliation.

    “The committee has provided a platform based on which the court will do the needful in accordance to the rules of court and law. So, I want to assure that our reconciliation effort has yielded some positive results within this short period such that we have established a basis for the withdrawal of the matter in court.

    “So, I don’t think there is any issue about the case going any further because the parties have withdrawn. We only expect the judiciary also to support this reconciliation effort. It means that the coast ought to be clear for the party to take steps to organize its convention and then regularize the various issues that needs to be regularized. For example, in the course of the various meetings that the committee will be holding with aggrieved members, we will stress the need to play by the rules because, in the past, Anambra State PDP has posed a lot of challenges and we hope that we will be able to overcome that.”