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Tag: Anenih

  • Anenih to Jonathan: state your 2015 ambition now

    Anenih to Jonathan: state your 2015 ambition now

    PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is to decide his political future at the end of this month – if he accepts a piece of advice from a party chieftain.

    The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, on Sunday night told Jonathan to make his intention towards the 2015 presidential election known to Nigerians at the end of this month or “as we enter October”.

    Anenih spoke during the PDP post convention dinner at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja. He said that taking such a decision was necessary towards giving the party a proper direction.

    The dinner, which was earlier scheduled to hold immediately after the special convention, was postponed due to the splitting of the party. Seven governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulafatah Ahmed (Kwara), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) – walked out of the venue with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to form a parallel executive for the “new PDP”.

    Before the new group named its executive, including National Chairman Kawu Baraje, National Secretary Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Deputy National Chairman Dr. Sam Jaja, the aggrieved governors had demanded Chairman Bamanga Tukur’s sack. They complained of lack of internal democracy in the party.

    The dinner party on Sunday night was attended by those loyal to the Tukur-led PDP faction. None of the aggrieved governors attended.

    Some of the elders mediating in the crisis rocking the party, such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Military President Ibrahim Babangida were absent at the Villa dinner.

    Anenih said: “I will appeal to our leader, the President of this country, that at the end of September or as we enter October, we should not tell anybody that the time is not right. I think the time is right. It is good that we tell our people where we are going to; what our journey will be like.”

    Referring to the on-going reconciliatory efforts in the party, he said: “We must be seen as a team and not as a group”.

    He acknowledged that there was a crisis in the party, but, according to him, all the disputes will be settled. “We will not fire any shot but we will win the war,” Anenih said, adding: “We will not recognise opposition within PDP. We will work together as a team so that by 2015 we will come here again to shake hands. We stand for unity and discipline. Nobody will be spared if he behaves out of indiscipline. We will do everything to bring everybody together.”

    President Jonathan has been telling his aides that his focus is working to justify his mandate, adding that 2015 is still far and he would not like to be distracted.

    The popular thinking is that the party’s crises are all about who gets the ticket to run in 2015.

    Jonathan is said to have signed an agreement to spend one term in office. His aides deny such an agreement was signed.

    Stressing that the PDP is intact, President Jonathan told the gathering that what was going on in the party was a minor disagreement that would be resolved.

    He said: “There is no human institution that you don’t have disagreements. What happened on that Saturday was a minor disagreement. In every society, there must be differences. There is no other party that can replace the PDP. It is only in the PDP they can grow.

    “For those who have issues, we thank the elders and governors who have been meeting and listening to them, we are committed to resolving our differences.”

    “We will resolve all our differences. PDP is intact and will remain intact. We will do everything to make sure the party grows stronger. Without PDP, there is no democracy in Nigeria. We will make sure that the party remains one, those who left will rejoin us.

    “It is only PDP that has not changed name or form. We will do our best to keep PDP one, to keep Nigeria one”.

    According to him, the dinner was part of his promise to create more opportunities for periodic meetings and interaction among party members at all levels.

    Assuring the newly elected leaders of the party of his support, he urged them to work as a team.

    On the support for the party, he said: “Even ordinary Nigerians believe PDP must remain one because it is the only party that can continue to give leadership.Even those that are aggrieved call themselves the ‘new PDP’, meaning they know without PDP they are nothing.”

    Vice President Namadi Sambo also said that the PDP had always provided leadership for others to emulate. He highlighted the government’s achievements in sectors of the economy.

    Akwa Ibom State Governor and Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum Godswill Akpabio said: “We want Nigerians to challenge us on performance, not on the pages of newspapers. We want to assure you there is no faction in the PDP. What we are seeing today is just a storm in a tea cup.

    “If you want to step out of the party you are free, this is the only party you can leave and return and become a national party chairman. The people are not with those who do not respect constituted authority. Those who do not respect authority will not get authority.”

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, speaking on behalf of Senate President David Mark, noted that the Senate is united and will continue to protect the interest of Nigerians and support President Jonathan’s administration.

    House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, who was represented by Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, said the PDP members in the National Assembly will continue to support the party through legislative means.

    Tukur harped on the importance of party loyalty and discipline.

    “We must learn to accept change in order to build on democratic principles. Our party cannot be relevant to the people only once in four years, when votes are needed, but at every time in order to improve their lot.

    “Dialogue and reconciliation should be encouraged but our politics should be based on issues rather than personalities,” Tukur said.

    Former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, noted that the party was going through a difficult time as he stressed that this period of claims and counter claims is no time to show weakness.

    At the dinner, state party chairmen also declared their loyalty for President Jonathan, the national chairman and their governors towards the 2015 elections.

    Women thanked the President for empowering them and for increasing their number in appointive and elective offices.

    The group urged him to stay back to continue for another four years to impact more on Nigerian women.

    Former Adamawa State Governor Boni Haruna, who was surrounded by Dipreye Alamieyesigha (Bayelsa), Jim Nwobodo (old Anambra State), Ikedi Ohakim (Imo), Sam Egwu (Ebonyi), Abdulkadri Kure (Niger), pledged the loyalty of former governors to the party under Jonathan.

    In his welcome remark, Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Ahmed Gulak appealed to members on the “wrong path” to return to the “right path”.

    At the dinner were Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Ramalan Yero (Kaduna),Theodore Orji (Abia), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Liyel Imoke (Cross Rivers) and Serieke Dickson (Bayelsa).

    Also present are Idris Wada (Kogi), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Jonah Jang (Plateau), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Saidu Dakingari (Kebbi).

    The Acting governor of Taraba State and deputy governors of Benue and Ebonyi states also attended the dinner.

    Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Anyim Pius Anyim, former Senate President Senator Ken Nnamani, Senator Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Ali were also at the dinner.

  • Anenih to Jonathan: Declare your intention on 2015

    Anenih to Jonathan: Declare your intention on 2015

    The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tony Anenih, on Sunday night challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to make his intention towards the 2015 presidential election known to Nigerians on or before the end of next month.

    Speaking during the PDP post- convention dinner, which was held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, Anenih said that taking such a decision is necessary in order to give the party a proper direction.

    The dinner earlier scheduled to hold immediately after the special convention of the party was postponed because of the crisis rocking the party.

    It would be recalled that seven governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulafatah Ahmed (Kwara), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto), and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) left the venue of the convention with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to form a parallel executive for the “new PDP.”

    Before the new group named its executive including the National Chairman, Kawu Baraje, National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Sam Jaja, the aggrieved governors had demanded the sack of Bamanga Tukur, citing lack of internal democracy in the party.

    The Sunday night dinner party was attended by those loyal to the Tukur -led PDP faction as none of the aggrieved governors attended the dinner.

    Also, some of the elders mediating in the crisis rocking the party like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida were conspicuously absent at the dinner.

    Anenih said, “I will appeal to our leader, the President of this country that at the end of September or as we enter October, we should not tell anybody that the time is not right, I think the time is right. It is good that we tell our people where we going to, what our journey will be like.”

    Referring to the on-going reconciliatory efforts in the party, he said that even though the task ahead is enormous, “we must be seen as a team and not as a group.”

     

     

  • Ex- PDP member blames Obasanjo,Tukur for party crises

    …  Flay Anenih, Clark 

    A founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Abu King Shuluwa, on Wednesday said former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur should be blamed for the crises rocking the party.

    He also faulted roles played by the Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees; Chief Tony Anenih and a prominent Ijaw leader; Chief Edwin Clark in the current hostility within the party.

    Addressing journalists in his Makurdi residence, Shuluwa, an associate of the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, said the quartet took advantage of President Goodluck Jonathan’s perceived weakness to mislead the party and pursued their personal agenda.

    “Don’t forget that Anenih is the chief financier of the People Democratic Movement and don’t that he wants it to be registered as a party. The entire governors fighting the president are loyalists of ex – president Obasanjo while Clark is drumming ethic war.

    “Tukur is running the party like a private property, bringing crises for the President.

    “President Jonathan does not know the power play currently going, he is innocent and they are making him to look confused,” Shuluwa stated.

     

  • PDP’s breakaway members have genuine grievances – Anenih

    PDP’s breakaway members have genuine grievances – Anenih

    The Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, has admitted that some chieftains of the party that broke away from the party on Saturday have genuine grievances for their action.

    In a statement he circulated in Abuja on Tuesday, Anenih however expressed the optimism that their grievances would soon be addressed and that the chieftains would return to the fold.

    He said: “I believe some of them have genuine grievances; but I have hope that once the grievances are addressed, they will come back. I am happy that the PDP has an internal mechanism for effective conflict resolution, and at the end of the day, the problems will be addressed and the PDP will come out of the crisis stronger.”

    The BoT chair said the ongoing peace talks with the factional members had been postponed till next Tuesday, on the request of the aggrieved governors in the breakaway group. The talks were initially scheduled to continue today (Tuesday).

    He stated that the aggrieved governors had told the Presidency and the PDP leadership that they needed more time to make wider consultations, a request which he said the Presidency and the leadership of the party were not averse to.

    “The Presidency and PDP leadership would take advantage of the postponement to also consult widely on how to amicably resolve the crisis, “Anenih added.

    According to him, selected party leaders would meet with former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday as part of the wider consultations demanded by parties to the crisis.

    “Part of the wider consultations is the meeting of selected party leaders with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday morning and thereafter, we will meet with the governors on Tuesday, next week.”

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, seven governors elected on the PDP platform, last Saturday, stormed out of the party’s convention ground to announce a breakaway faction of the party.

    The seven Governors in the faction are – Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Musa Kwankwaso (Kano); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).

    A former national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, was named chairman of the faction, while the embattled former national secretary of the party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola was made the secretary.

     

  • PDM to Anenih: fix PDP’s many problems

    PDM to Anenih: fix PDP’s many problems

    The newly registered political party, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has hit back at the Chairman of Board of Trustees, Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Tony Anenih.

    The party described Chief Anenih as the “masquerade behind the anti-PDM.”

    It advised the former Minister of Works and Housing to face his party’s many problems and let the newly registered party be.

    PDM also reminded the PDP chieftain that the party has come to stay; stressing that it is an idea whose time has come.

    Chief Anenih, according to a report in the media on Monday had queried the registration of PDM as a political party.

    The PDP chief has been a member of the PDM since its formation as a political group under the leadership of the late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

    The Media Adviser to PDM Chairman, Alaba Yusuf, in a statement issued on Monday, said, “The masquerade behind the anti – Peoples Democratic Movement, the newly registered party, has finally been unveiled. Chief Anenih’s recent press statement is a positive advertisement for PDM and what it stands for. There’s no turning back the hands of time. PDM is an idea whose time has come. We are not going to waste our time exchanging words with those who want to live in the past, and continue to impoverish the ordinary Nigerian.

    “Let the PDP BoT Chairman resolve the crises tearing his party and the country apart; before dabbling into the affairs of another party over which he has no control.

    “Sadly, Chief Anenih’s description of PDM’s registration as ‘a political trickery’ is nothing but an insult to the electoral laws and the credibility of INEC. The beauty of democracy lives on the principles of freedom of speech, association and the right to exist politically.”

     

  • Anenih kicks against PDM’s registration

    Anenih kicks against PDM’s registration

    The war over the registration of the Peoples Democratic Movement(PDM) continued yesterday with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, kicking against the transformation of PDM into a party.

    He alleged that some PDM leaders had secretly and mischievously registered the group with INEC to operate as a political party

    Anenih has been a member of the PDM since its formation.

    Also, it was learnt that there is a secret plot by some forces in the Presidency and the PDP to ensure that the PDM is deregistered.

    The forces are either considering a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) or going to the court to quash the registration of PDM.

    But the National Chairman of PDM, Alhaji Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, said the party was happy that the masquerader behind the anti-PDM propaganda has been unveiled with Anenih’s outburst.

    Anenih, who felt hurt by the registration of PDM, issued a statement in Abuja in which he claimed that he was not consulted as a founding member of the pressure group before it was turned into a political party.

    He asked PDM members not to panic and claimed that the group still remains a part of PDP.

    The statement said: “Reports about the registration of Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) as a political party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have inundated the polity; and because of my leading role in the formation and nurturing of the Movement, concerned members of the Movement have contacted me to confirm if it was our PDM that has witnessed the transformation.

    “After in-depth investigations and extensive consultations with a wide spectrum of the membership and leadership of the PDM, which is just like a pressure group within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), I consider it moral to use this medium to clarify that the PDM, which some persons, purporting to be interim leaders, secretly and mischievously promoted and succeeded in registering with INEC to operate as a political party, is not our PDM that worked with other political associations to form the PDP in 1998.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the PDM, which we collectively envisioned under the leadership of the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, remains an integral part of the PDP, whose Board of Trustees I currently chair, by the grace of God and the consensus of founding fathers and leaders of our great party.

    “I hereby wish to urge those who look up to me for guidance in this circumstance to remain steadfast with me in the task of building a much more united and formidable PDP and to discountenance the registration and treat it as a political trickery which will not survive the test of time.

    “Members of the Peoples Democratic Movement, which is working for the unity and success of the PDP and the Federal Government under the able leadership of President Goodluck Ebele Joanthan, GCFR, should not panic.

    “They should see it as an attempt to undercut our PDM, which was never intended to be and should not be a registered political party within and against the PDP.”

    But the National Chairman of PDM, Alhaji Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, said the party was happy that the architect of the anti-PDM propaganda had been unveiled.

    In a statement through the party’s Media Adviser, Alaba Yusuf, the National Chairman said: “The masquerader behind the anti-PDM propaganda has been unmasked. Chief Anenih’s statement is a positive advertisement for PDM and what it stands for.

    “There is no turning back the hand of time. PDM is an idea whose time has come. We are not going to waste our time exchanging word with those who want to live in the past.

    “Let the chief resolve the crisis tearing his party apart before dabbling in the affairs of another party over which he has no control.”

    Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said his position is only different from that of Chief Anenih “to the extent that he believes in the right of freedom of association which is guaranteed by the constitution of Nigeria. PDM, even when Shehu (Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua) lived never operated as a regimented organisation like the police or the army.

    “Don’t also forget the fact that this is not the first time that the PDM had sought registration. They sought to register as Peoples Front,PF under the Babangida Presidency but this was denied them.

    “They tried to do this under Abacha but instead, parties described as ‘the five leprous fingers’ were registered. When he called many of the the PDM members, including Chief Anenih to the PDP in 1998 and they agreed to come, several others including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu chose the other parties such as the then Alliance for Democracy, AD and the defunct All Peoples Party, APP.So they, as PDM members were really never sworn to an oath, to belong to only one political party.

    “So, while others like Chief Anenih have made the choice of remaining as members of the PDP, neither of them reserves the right to take away from a fellow citizen, his right of freedom of association as accorded by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is time for some of them, the elders in the polity to allow our younger members to express themselves. “We can advise them without imposing our political views on them. It is by this spirit that we can guide and grow the next generation not by hindering them” Atiku said, according to his spokesman Garba Shehu.

  • The reign of the Kakistocrats

    The reign of the Kakistocrats

    They are prisoners of power Trapped in its glistening prism of time and space They are shackled in its golden chains and gilded bracelets Oh how they serve term…

    It will not be necessary to go into the labour of defining kakistocracy since examples and illustrations abound to make the meaning plain. This idea had been tugging at me for some time but was finally triggered by a report in the newspapers last Sunday. It is titled: “Anenih, Tukur’s feud deepens.” The report is a narrative of the endless dog-fights in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hierarchy. It details how the lingering bad blood running between Chief Tony Anenih, chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) and Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, chairman of the party. Professor Jerry Gana and Chief Ike Ekweremadu who were planning the convention of the party had gone to the chairman’s house for consultation. The chairman, Tukur was said to have shut them out, making them wait outside the gate of his palatial Abuja residence for over half an hour before they made an about turn, wooden-footed and cloudy faced.

    Party chairman, Tukur had rebuffed and rubbed dust on these who are no mean party members because they had been sent by BoT chairman, Anenih who deigns to control and fix the affairs of the party even though he occupies a mere ceremonial position. This mild drama happened late last week. By early this week, the entire Gana convention planning committee had been thrown in the dustbin for some woolly reason. But at the bottom of it all is power struggle. The PDP has been unable to hold a convention for some years neither has it been able to elect proper officers and committees. The ruling party is today, akin to a grounded aircraft that has been converted to an excursion site: though the engine hums and revs, it is incapable of lifting off the ground.

    This is vintage kakistocracy starkly illustrated. Kakistocracy is the reign of humdrum: humdrum people, humdrum party, humdrum government translating to a humdrum country. Kakistocracy is to be led by vacuous people who have lost touch with reality and have been too far disconnected from the people they lead that they are incapable of applying the reverse gear. Chief Emeka Anyaoku laid it bare only last Sunday. Giving a talk in Lagos, the eminent diplomat said the country is facing a crisis while our leaders and elite are living in denial of those facts. Dear readers, since we have known the likes of Anenih, Tukur, Gana, and co., did we ever know them for any public good, monumental performance in public service, social contract, national pride, flag and country? Ladies and gentlemen, has it not always been about vacancy in Aso Rock, juicy ministerial appointments, Nigerian Ports Authority, big contracts and political bickering? This is kakistocracy in practice.

    Kakistocracy is the very obtuse action of a president heaving plane loads of his cabinet members, governors and hangers-on (you may call them businessmen) across continents and oceans on a supposed state visit to China. The last time such a crowd was on a state visit anywhere was when the Queen of Sheba visited king Solomon: “She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold and precious stones;…” (1Kings 10 v.2 NKJV). That junket to China last week is perhaps the worst thing that has happened to the dignity and esteem of Nigeria since independence.

    Weight for weight, China does not have more resources than Nigeria and in fact, we have not tapped nary ten percent of our natural resources while our intellectual wealth is yet to be scratched. All the loans and grants from China we sing about, is just a small fraction of Nigeria’s one month oil earning or a small portion of losses to oil theft of about 400,000 barrels per day. Leveraging on this quantum of earnings, there is no amount the Chinese would give us that we can not muster ten times over. Indeed under a smart leadership, Nigeria ought to be lending money to China with a population of about 1.5 billion people. Nigeria under President Goodluck Jonathan is the only country in the world that cannot safeguard its strategic national assets. Since miscreants and petty rogues steal our oil and we don’t know what to do, we may consider drafting the Chinese navy.

    Kakistocracy is morbid politics of power for the sake of it. While the Chinese we love to visit acquire power for the sake of country, for the people, for building lasting monuments, and with the aim to transform their country to showpieces other nationals would marvel at, we hunt down power for the sake of it. We chase power to loot the treasury and cart away to China, South Africa and Switzerland. We grab power to destroy our institutions so that we can be tin gods.

    Kakistocracy is the presidency subverting order and the rule of law by supporting a renegade faction in a governors’ forum election; it is the torpedoing of the constitution and the impunity of hirelings trying to upstage a State House of Assembly by force. Kakistocracy is the presidency’s refusal to condemn the rampaging renegades who have brought the Rivers Assembly to a state of ferment and the entire state to a stand-still.

    Kakistocracy, to paraphrase Prof.Pat Utomi, is the prevalence in government, of people lacking in quality and capacity to govern; it is a place where there are no elders, where the elders have been compromised with contracts and appointments and all such gravy. Kakistocracy is leadership by the worst people in the land.

    LAST MUG: No Sam, it’s time to act: Dr. Sam Amadi’s piece, “It’s Time to Think,” on the back page of Thisday newspaper, July 12, 2013, is brilliant in espousing the current dangerous mindset of the people ruling Nigeria today. By the way, Amadi is the chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Committee (NERC). While one would forgive him for suggesting that Nigerians are empty and unthinking (which according to him, explains the current inertia in our national life), what is his NERC thinking in relentlessly increasing electricity tariff in the face of endless darkness? My brother I think NERC should do some work and … yes, think less.

    GEN. ALABI-ISAMA’S BIAFRA: Numerous readers of this column who have inundated me with enquiries as to how to get a copy of GEN. ALABI-ISAMA’S BOOK, “TRAGEDY OF HISTORY” reviewed on this page last week, may call the following number for copies of the book: 0811-513-1881

  • Anenih, Tukur’s feud deepens

    Anenih, Tukur’s feud deepens

    The relationship between the embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and the Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT),Chief Tony Anenih has hit an all time low after Tukur allegedly shut the gate of his Abuja residence against a party delegation from him, last Thursday.

    Those allegedly denied entry by Tukur were members of the party’s National Convention Planning Committee led by its chairman, Prof Jerry Gana and the Secretary, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

    They were on a mission for consultation with the PDP national Chairman on the preparation for the August 31 special national convention of the party.

    They were reportedly kept outside the gate by security men who told them that Tukur was not at home and that they could not enter the chairman’s expansive premises.

    Gana, at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, neither confirmed nor denied the report, saying that as party leaders, they were not expected to be discussing party issues on the pages of newspapers.

    “It’s true that the Deputy President of the Senate and I went to the chairman’s house to see him. But we will not take issues on that because we respect our party chairman. We are not going to discuss our party issues on the pages of newspapers”, Gana said while addressing reporters on preparation for the convention.

    Party sources said Anenih has not taken kindly to what he perceives as a personal insult on him by Tukur .

    A party source said:”The leader is angry and he may have decided to back the convention committee against Tukur following the latter’s refusal to give peace a chance. Anenih is very angry at the way the chairman treated respected chieftains of our party.

    “He is not happy that in spite of his intervention, Tukur is not ready for peace. Should the issue be discussed at the next BoT meeting, it is likely Anenih will throw his weight behind the convention committee. He was the one who advised them to go to Tukur. He is not happy that they were humiliated that much by the party’s leader.”

    Relationship between the two chairmen has not been particularly rosy on account of what many party members, including PDP governors, see as Tukur’s arrogance.

    Some of the governors are crusading for his removal, citing his style of management.

    Investigations by The Nation revealed that following a prolonged disagreement between the committee and the party’s interim National Working Committee over modalities for the planned convention, the BoT chairman was prevailed upon by some party chieftains to intervene in the matter for peace to reign.

    Consequently, Anenih met with the committee on the issue following which he spoke with Tukur and urged him to work with the Convention committee in the interest of the party.

    A member of the committee said: “Tukur wants the committee to be reporting to him as the national chairman of the party. But as members of the committee, we feel he should not be allowed to be an umpire in a game wherein he is a key player.

    “Though we are not holding election for his post, we are conducting elections to fill vacant positions in the NWC of which he is a part.

    “So the committee feels he shouldn’t be the one dictating the modalities. That is the issue. And because we have not been able to make him see reason with us, things are not going well between the committee and the interim NWC. This has the possibility of affecting the planned convention. That is why the BoT had to intervene.”

    Tukur, on his part, is also said to be peeved by the arrogance of the committee leadership.

    A party source familiar with the development said: “The chairman feels leaders of the committee are going outside their brief. The refusal of the committee to constantly report its activities to him annoys him. He cannot understand why Gana and his members will appoint sub-committees to handle aspects of the convention without telling him.

    “That is why the NWC feels the committee is deliberately sidelining it in the preparation for the convention. That explains the no-love-lost situation between the two party organs.”

    It was gathered that as a way of dousing the tension between the two camps, Anenih convinced the Gana-led committee to visit Tukur and discuss the planned convention with him.

    Gana and Ekweremadu reportedly arrived Tukur’s residence as early as 9.30am only to be denied entry.

    After waiting for about 35 minutes without seeing Tukur, they decided to leave.

    Sources said soon after their departure, Tukur held a meeting in his house with members of the party’s interim national Working Committee (NWC).

    The meeting lasted for about an hour after which the party chairman left for the Abuja Airport en route Yola, Adamawa State.

  • Anenih angry as senator’s firm gets seaport contract

    Anenih angry as senator’s firm gets seaport contract

    A multi-billion naira contract for the dredging of Calabar and Ibaka Deep seaports was secured by a serving senator, investigation has revealed.

    The contract was awarded to a recently incorporated Calabar Channel Management, jointly owned by the senator’s firm, Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited, and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). About N3 billion was voted in this year’s budget for the beginning of the capital dredging of Calabar Port alone.

    It was also learnt that the senator’s company holds 53.3 per cent of the equity participation in the contract while the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) holds the rest, contrary to Chief Tony Anenih’s claim.

    But Anenih, the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has petitioned Transport Minister Idris Umar over the contract.

    He sent a strong-worded petition to Umar, querying the rationale behind the choice of the senator’s company to manage the two international channels.

    Anenih, who is also the chairman of the NPA board, detailed in the five-page petition what he called irregularities that characterised the creation of the Calabar Channel Management as well as the flaws in the partnership agreement.

    Although his petition put equity participation at 60 per cent for NPA and 40 per cent for the senator’s company, available records indicate that NPA owns 53.3 per cent while Niger Global owns 46.7 per cent. Of the 300 million shares belonging to Calabar Channel Management, 160 million belongs to NPA and 140 million to the firm.

    Investigation also revealed that what exists is a partnership between NPA and Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company, not a consortium, as Anenih indicated in his petition to the minister.

    According to Anenih, nothing recommends the senator’s company for such huge project, given what he called its “poor record with the Nigerian Ports Authority”.

    The PDP board chairman reminded the minister that the company neither participated in the bid process for Calabar channel nor was its competence and capabilities assessed, as was the case with the other firms jostling for the same contract.

    Anenih said: “The consortium has no reference whatsoever of previous jobs done. They were completely alien to the Calabar channel project and did not even take part in the bids of 2010 and the later procurement process.

    “The consortium was not prequalified and did not pass through the selection process like other companies. It, therefore, follows that the Presidential approval for the appointment of the consortium, led by Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited to enter into a joint venture with NPA, which culminated in the agreement to form Calabar Channel, was obtained without following due process.”

    This is the fourth controversial attempt at making Calabar River navigable. Only two years ago, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) cancelled the entire process following protests over NPA’s attempt to award the contract to itself.

    The current conflict is prompted by the decision of the Ministry of Transport to circumvent procurement procedures as well as its refusal to adhere to BPP’s directive designed to achieve transparency. All these, as maritime watchers say, are prompted by their desire to impose their preferred firm on the nation.

     

  • Anenih’s automatic tickets satanic –Ihonvbere

    Anenih’s automatic tickets satanic –Ihonvbere

    THE Secretary to the Edo State Government, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, yesterday described the call for automatic tickets for PDP governors and President Goodluck Jonathan, by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih as satanic and undemocratic.

    Ihonvbere who was former Special Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, asserted that “the credibility I have, with which I make my comment, is that I was in the frontline of those who fought for this democracy. Whether at the level of the UDFF or the level of JACON, with people like Enahoro, Akinrinade, Bolaji Akinyemi, Governo Kayode Fayemi, Senator Bola Tinubu, late Chief Bola Igie and others, this is not the democracy we all fought for.

    “That is his (Anenih) style as usual, corruption and contaminating the political process. When they are afraid of competition, they look for shortcut. It is one way of telling people don’t even bother. But that is not in the PDP constitution or in the constitution of Nigeria. And it does not help democratic development, it does not help democratic contestation, it does not help the strengthening of political institutions. If they have performed, their records will stand for them and they will win.