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Tag: Baraje

  • Tukur urges court to jail Baraje, others

    Tukur urges court to jail Baraje, others

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday urged the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, to commit leaders of the party’s faction to prison for allegedly violating an order made by Mr Justice Ganiyu Safari.

    The application is different from the one at the Federal High Court, Abuja, in which the party urged the court to jail the alleged contemnors for “appointing” Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola as “National Secretary” after the court had nullified his nomination by the PDP Southwest Zonal Chapter.

    Applicants in the suit filed yesterday by their lawyer, Mr Ajibola Oluyede, are: PDP Chairman Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; Deputy National Chairman, Uche Secondus; National Women Leader Dr. Kema Chikwe and National Publicity Olisah Metuh.

    They are urging the court to jail Alhaji Kawu Baraje, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, Oyinlola, Maode Hiliya, Timi Frank, Mrs. Binta Koje, Mallam Nasir Issa, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, Aliyu Wadada and Mallam Tanko Gomna.

    PDP is praying the court to jail Baraje, Jaja and Oyinlola for one year or as the court may otherwise determine for alleged criminal contempt which they committed “in their conspiracy and actions to flout the purpose and authority of the court”.

    The party said they obstructed the administration of justice through subverting the court’s processes and engaged in overt acts of defiance and violation of an order made on September 2.

    Justice Safari had ordered in a ruling that “parties maintain the Status Quo ante pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction”.

    The judge was said to have reaffirmed the order on Monday.

    Despite the order, PDP said, the “contemnors” opened a new office /secretariat on September 4, and appointed themselves and the others into various offices constituting the PDP National Working Committee (NWC).

    The applicants said the “contemnors” did so “for the purpose of rendering the said orders of this Honourable Court nugatory and of no effect”.

    PDP also sought an order committing the fourth to 10th alleged contemnors to prison for a term of one year for alleged criminal contempt.

    It said they should be jailed for “aiding and abetting the defiance and violation of the order of this Honourable Court through their appointment into various offices constituting the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the purpose of rendering the said orders of this Honourable Court nugatory and of no effect.”

    Stating the grounds for the application, PDP said: “The Plaintiffs (Baraje and others) instituted this action via a Writ of Summons dated 2nd September 2013 and also filed a motion ex parte for interim injunction.

    “On the 2nd of September 2013, this Honourable Court refused the prayer for interim injunction but rather made an order directing that ‘Parties maintain the Status quo ante pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.’

    “The above order of this Honourable Court that parties maintain status quo was reaffirmed by this Honourable Court in the proceedings of 9th of September 2013.

    “Despite the said order of this Honourable Court directing parties to maintain status quo ante, the 1st to 3rd alleged contemnors rather than wait for the outcome of the judicial process to which they had submitted themselves and accord the requisite respect to the judiciary and due process of law, continued to parade themselves and to act as the chairman, deputy national chairman and secretary of the party.

    “On the 9th of September 2013, the 3rd alleged contemnor announced in a statement in Abuja the appointment of the contemnors into various offices in the National Working Committee (NWC).

    “This Honorable court has the power and the responsibility, as well as other courts in the land, to shed the cloak of indignity, which the contemnors have attempted to foist upon the judiciary generally and this honourable court in particular, to rescue the authority and majesty of the courts of the land from the denigration and insult which the Respondents and the Alleged Contemnors have conspired to assault the temple of justice with by ensuring that the Alleged Contemnors purge themselves of their contempt.”

    No date has been fixed for the hearing.

  • More governors, lawmakers to join Baraje PDP

    More governors, lawmakers to join Baraje PDP

    More Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors and lawmakers will join the Kawu Baraje faction of the party, Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako said yesterday.

    “I know that many governors will soon be joining us while the entire caucus of the PDP at the National Assembly is with us in principle, but others will soon make it public,” the governor said in an interview in Yola.

    Apart from Nyako, six other governors – Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Sule Lamido (Kano), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Abdul Fatah Ahmed (Kwara) – broke off along with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to form the Baraje faction last month.

    Nyako urged elders to openly identify “with the cause of progressive democrats” in the PDP under Baraje’s leadership so that together we shall fight for the enthronement of lasting democracy in the PDP.

    He said: “I want all Nigerians especially our elders to come out openly and identify with people of like minds who believe in true democracy and people-centred political party under Baraje.

    Nyako praised the governors who formed the new PDP, for their courage and statesmanship.

    He also hailed Atiku for his courage.

    But the factional Chairman of Adamawa PDP Chief Joel Madaki, who is loyal to PDP National Chairman Bamanga Tukur, said Nyako and Atiku could not deliver quality programmes to Adamawa State.

    Madaki told reporters that there are no injustice and tyranny in the PDP as claimed by the duo.

    The PDP factional chair claimed that Nyako directed Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Kobis Ari-Thimnu and two commissioners to represent him at the launch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

    He said: “Governor Nyako and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar are pretending to fight injustice within the PDP by leaving to form a new PDP. Has he forgotten so soon that he became a governor in 2007 without due process, with no primaries? What about the misused flood victims fund and the salaries/allowances of the civil servants in the state? Are these acts not portraying the government of the PDP in bad light in the eyes of the masses? That is why we are saying that the pronouncement by Nyako to fighting injustice is a complete fallacy.”

     

  • Before the PDP self-destruct

    Before the PDP self-destruct

    As Nigeria’s politics continue to take shape ahead of the 2015 elections, the leadership deficit of the PDP came to the fore once again with a festering crisis tearing the party apart.

    Spirited attempts by former heads of state, and the incumbent President to reconcile the warring factions have so far fallen on deaf ears. The ruling party is like a time bomb, doomed for implosion! The sad reality of plunging the nation into avoidable political crisis stare us in the face as the party’s predilection to press the self-destruct button is rather habitual.

    The party exhibited its favourite pastime — dancing naked in public — this time at the Eagles Square, venue of the Mini Convention, where aggrieved members of the PDP stormed out to form a parallel faction now known as the ‘new PDP’.

    Members of the faction including notable governors from the north, joined by their counterparts from Rivers and Kwara states, led by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, with Abubakar Baraje as Chairman. There was another drama as aggrieved members of factions in Anambra state PDP resorted to fisticuffs to press home their grievances.

    Such disregard for decency and decorum has become the hallmark of the party. The continuous existence of the party might be a mirage when viewed against the backdrop of its inability to justify its existence for 14 harrowing years other than plundering the nation’s resources. It is derisory that the party still thinks it can railroad voters in 2015 into its conquistadorial mission.

    The subversion of democratic principles to the whims and caprices of the party’s hierarchy is fast becoming the norm in the PDP. The job of taking Nigeria out of the abyss unto the path of prosperity, it does seem, we cannot continue to entrust into the hands of such mendacious, unrepentant and rapacious rascals, donning the garb of democrats.

    2015 will come upon us like a thief in the night, we must begin to be wary of self-seeking power grapping politicians who have failed the acid test of demonstrable leadership capacity. Their ability to make rational decisions is in doubt much as the lip service they pay to the vaunted transformation agenda of the present administration is evident in the dwindling fortunes of all sectors of the Nigerian economy.

    The recent squabble came as good news to many Nigerians who see the PDP as a monster that has colluded with the ruling elite for over a decade to loot the treasury, institutionalise corruption and ensure that Nigerians remain in perpetual captivity. That the party has survived series of crisis not occasioned by mass defection is largely due to the lack of a formidable opposition. As the APC, Atiku’s PDM, VOP – rumoured to be backed by the aggrieved governors in the ‘new PDP’ – are fast changing the political landscape, sooner rather than later, we shall witness a mass exodus of dissenting PDP members.

    Bamanga Tukur’s tenure as the PDP chairman has been nothing short of calamity on the party that pontificates as the largest party in Africa, as if political parties are defined and identified by size alone. At a time when the political minefield is being reshaped with APC and others, it is expected that Tukur would not push his game too far as the party continue to totter precariously on the brink of disaster. So far, he has failed to show tact, diplomacy and political savvy in dealing with the challenges that a party of strange bedfellows like the PDP pose.

    The ruling party, as always, downplays crisis rocking the party as one that should be expected in any large family. Some like Nysome Wike, go to such nit-witted extent to show their political naivety by saying political crisis “beautify democracy”.

    Sadly, the perpetual wrangling in the ruling party has nothing to do with Nigerians; it is not about policies, or issues that border on how to move the state forward, or how to build institutions, create jobs and develop infrastructure to improve the lives of the populace but instead it is how to massage their already over bloated egos and further their selfish ambition.

    More worrisome is the deployment of state resources and apparatus to fight perceived enemies. The current in-fighting and political skimming the PDP is enmeshed is nothing but jostling for 2015 elections. A truly democratic party will not estrange members for aspiring to any political office. Such actions are not only antithetical to every known democratic tenet but tyrannical.

    The split must have come as cheery news for the main opposition party, APC. How prepared they are to cash in on the PDP break-up and woo the aggrieved gladiators to their camp remains to be seen. It is not a co-incidence that since the APC was formed the party at the centre has never known peace. Now, the ruling party seems to be on the path to perdition.

    There’s no gainsaying the fact that the PDP has been sitting on a keg of gun powder for much of the time. The leadership of the party has completely ignored calls over the years to deepen democracy by eschewing factional politics, instilling discipline and ensuring a level playing ground for all members. Matter of fact, the party needs a reform, not just reconcile aggrieved members, if it is to wriggle itself out of the snarl it is currently mired.

    Past failure in putting its house in order culminated in the official rascality and uncivilised manner party members conducted themselves at the convention, a testament to the poor rating of the PDP’s leadership capacity.

    Political observers have surmised that the ‘Old PDP’ is headed for the rocks. The Baraje faction is taking their time to garner more members, goodwill from the public and ultimately, destroy the PDP, before finally making deft political moves to the new parties: PDM, VOP or the APC.

    Mr President’s desire to run for 2015 at all cost against the wishes of aggrieved governors, and his quest to have a firm grip of the party’s machinery, by launching a counter attack to whittle down the influence of those opposed to his ambition, coupled with the wind of the opposition, is what is tearing the umbrella to shreds today. The president’s foot soldiers are ready for a showdown with the ‘new PDP’.

    Without a clear cut policy direction, the continuous existence and dominance of such a party will mean total ruination of all the attractions, stimulation or semblance of democratic principles that has given Nigerians hope in governance. The reality of the situation is, the party is already headed towards destruction. The death knell is sounding loud and clear. Nigerians must rise up to bail the country from the firm grip of the PDP powers that be have plundered the resources of the country in a mafia-like circus.

    The war of words between the Tukur and Baraje factions is bound to leave a bad impression on the minds of Nigerians. The PDP wittingly or unwittingly is nursing a dangerous death wish. The party behaves as if it has no opposition which can capitalise on its monumental weaknesses, or they assume that whatever their weakness, they can still capture power in 2015 and it seems every action of government is now deliberately intended to intimidate opposition, within and outside the party, against President Jonathan’s pesky 2015 ambition. This perception from the public can erase whatever good luck is left in Jonathan or any PDP politician for that matter. Such negative politics that elevates party chaos with its attendant reconciliation process with tax payer’s money over governance must henceforth be put on the back burner.

    The writer can be reached via: theophilus@ilevbare.com, http://ilevbare.com, twitter: @tilevbare

  • Baraje’s faction elects NWC members

    Baraje’s faction elects NWC members

    The Abubakar Baraje faction of the Peoples Democratic Party yesterday ratified the election of its national officers.

    Ahead of its reconvening today, there is however pressure on ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Peace Team to sanction the G-7 governors and all those behind the Kawu Baraje-led New PDP.

    The list of the National Working Committee members was contained in a statement by its National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

    The statement said: “Despite the security siege to its national secretariat, the Abubakar Baraje led Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), has ratified the election of its national officers.

    “The stakeholders of the party across the country at a meeting in Abuja have ratified the election of members of its National Working Committee.

    “The NWC members are: Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, (Chairman); Dr Sam Sam Jaja, (Deputy National Chairman); Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, (National Secretary); Hon. Maode Umar Hiliya (Deputy National Secretary).

    “Others are Mr. Timi Frank (National Youth Leader); Hon Binta Koje, National woman leader; Mallam Nasir Issa (National Organising Secretary); Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze(National Publicity Secretary); Hon. Wadada (National Financial Secretary); Mallam Tanko Isiaku Gomna(National Treasurer).

    “The positions of National Auditor and that of National Legal Adviser which are zoned to the South East and South West respectfully, will be announced soon.”

    A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The presidency is insisting on sanction against the rebellious members to serve as deterrent to others.

    “But the elders are of the opinion that the party should adopt no victor, no vanquished policy to move forward.

    “This demand for sanction will top the resumption of peace talks in Abuja when Obasanjo’s team reconvenes.”

     

  • Kaduna ‘PDP’ backs Baraje

    Kaduna ‘PDP’ backs Baraje

    The Kaduna State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is divided, it emerged yesterday.

    A faction has declared support for the Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led national faction.

    Former Chairman of the PDP in the state, Audi Yaro Makama and a former member of the House of Assembly, Gideon Morik said members of the party were joining the new PDP.

    Makama is a close associate of former Governor Ahmed Makarfi and it is widely being rumoured that the former governor has endorsed the action. But, Makarfi’s spokesman, Mukthar Sirajo, denied the involvement of the senator in the move.

    Sirajo told The Nation : “Makama may be Makarfi’s friend, but they don’t always agree on some political issues. I have seen that statement and I tried to dissuade them from going ahead because I know it will lead to this type if insinuations.It is a delicate issue, but I can tell you that Makarfi has no hand in what is happening”.

    The statement entitled “Kaduna joins Baraje-led PDP” reads: “Fundamentally, this decision has been taken after deep reflections on happenings in Kaduna State since the elevation of Namadi Sambo as Vice-President. It is instructive that since his elevation, the fortunes and prestige of the party in the state has been declining rather than improving, because he has been incapable of rallying the people under its umbrella.

    “Although this is hardly surprising since he lacks the political wherewithal and the requisite structure to preside over the politics of the state, but it was expected that he would come to terms with his inadequacies and enlist the support of established political actors.”

    The statement added: “In the last few weeks, a political Tsunami was unleashed on the nation with the emergence of a new leadership to pilot the affairs of our great party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

    “The decision of the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and seven governors elected on the platform of the party, is not only worthy of commendation but worthy of emulation.”

    It was not clear whether the action has the blessing of the state executives of the party as efforts to reach them proved abortive.

     

  • Baraje’s faction inspects secretariat

    Baraje’s faction inspects secretariat

    Moments after meeting PDP elders on a peace mission yesterday in Abuja,some members of the Baraje faction inspected the proposed secretariat of the faction.

    At the head of the inspection team was Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State.

    It was a brief affair, lasting only a few minutes.

    The building, located in the highbrow Maitama District in Abuja, was once occupied by the defunct National Democratic Party (NDP).

    The NDP was recently deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Renovation on the building was still on yesterday.

    Its gate is painted in the PDP signature colours of green, white and red.

    The signpost that could have revealed the identity of the corporate occupant of the building was wrapped up in black.

    The faction had planned to unveil its secretariat yesterday, but could not do so, apparently for reason of the peace meeting.

  • Tukur to court: commit Baraje, others to prison

    Tukur to court: commit Baraje, others to prison

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday urged a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja to commit the party’s factional chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, to prison for alleged contempt of court.

    It urged the court to also jail the faction’s National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Deputy National Chairman, Dr Sam Jaja.

    The party wants the court to jail them for a minimum of one year each for allegedly committing criminal contempt.

    The motion on notice for committal of the alleged contemnors, filed yesterday, was brought pursuant to Order 35 of the Federal High Court Rules 2009.

    PDP’s lawyer Mr Ajibola Oluyede, who made the court processes available to reporters at a news conference in Lagos, said he was directed by the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led PDP to file the action.

    He said his clients also filed a Preliminary Objection against the suit filed by Oyinlola, Baraje and Jaja at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja.

    The three sued Tukur, Deputy National Chairman Uche Secondus, National Women Leader Dr Kema Chikwe and National Publicity Olisah Metuh.

    Baraje and the others are urging the court to stop the Tukur-led executive from functioning as the party’s national officers.

    But the Tukur-led PDP, in the contempt proceedings, said Baraje and the others allegedly violated a judgment of the Federal High Court in a suit numbered FHC/ABJ/504/2013, delivered on January 11.

    The faction said Oyinlola conspired with Baraje and Jaja to take actions by which they flouted the judgment.

    By allegedly doing so, they obstructed the administration of justice by subverting the appellate process, as Oyinlola’s appeal against the judgment is yet to be determined.

    The party said Oyinlola, “with guilty knowledge” “appointed and declared” himself as the National Secretary of the PDP “for the purpose of rendering the judgment of this Honourable Court nugatory and of no effect.”

    The applicants urged the court to make an order nullifying Oyinlola’s appointment as the National Secretary.

    The Federal High Court, in the judgment nullified Oyinlola’s candidacy as a nominee of the Southwest Zonal Chapter of the PDP.

    Plaintiffs in the suit are Chief Adebayo Dayo and Semiu Sodipo, who sued for themselves and on behalf of the Executive Committee of Ogun State PDP.

    The court declared Oyinlola’s subsequent election as National Secretary at the convention held in March last year as invalid, null and void by reason of another court order which nullified the Southwest Zonal Congress from which Oyinlola emerged.

    The court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rectify PDP’s records “by deleting the name of the first defendant (Oyinlola) as the National Secretary.”

    The court directed INEC to replace Oyinlola with a candidate nominated at a valid congress of the Southwest Zonal Chapter of the PDP, to be held within 21 days of the order.

    According to the plaintiffs, by claiming to be a factional National Secretary of the PDP, Oyinlola and the others disrespected the court.

    “The alleged contemnors have, since the delivery of the said judgment, committed additional acts of criminal contempt by conspiring to flout the purpose of the court as pronounced in its said judgment and the authority of the court in so pronouncing,” they said.

    The applicants said the alleged contemnors acted to subvert the appeal process made available by the 1999 Constitution by taking it upon themselves to overrule the judgment and appoint Oyinlola to the office which the court had validly removed him from, without following the process stipulated by the judgment or awaiting the result of the appeal.

    “The acts of the contemnors constitute criminal contempt of this Hoonourable Court in that they have not only acted in concert to frustrate the order of this court, but have published to the public their decision to flout the authority and purpose of this Honourable Court in making the said order, demonstrating defiance and disrespect of this court, thereby holding the court in public odium, trampling upon the dignity and magesty of the judicial institution of the country in general and this Honourable Court in particular by making the court appear supine and irrelevant.

    “It is, therefore, desirable, nay, imperative that this Honourable Court makes an example of the alleged contemnors to show the public that the criminial conduct of the alleged contemnors is an aberrant behaviour that is not permissible in a civilised democracy as obtainable in the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the applicants said.

    Oluyede maintained that what transpired in the party was a storm in a tea cup, which would heal in due course, but blamed the actors for action contrary to the provisions of the constitution.

    He said: “That does not really pose a danger to democracy; democracy means people should be free to express themselves. So, by expressing themselves in this way, even though it is illegal grouping, it does not really portend danger to the polity or even the party.

    “The only thing that needs urgent attention is that many times some of the players have not recognised the need to play by the rule. They ought to have realised that the freedom they are enjoying requires the existence of certain democratic structures and institutions and that they should in the course of expressing these rights bear in mind that the institution must be preserved.

    “That is the actual danger to the polity and that is going to affect not just the PDP, it is going to affect the entire polity. And that is the reason why my clients take a very serious approach to the action of Alhaji Baraje, Prince Oyinlola, Mr. Sam Jaja and their supporters.

    “It would appear that what they are trying to do is a coup d’ tat. Now the constitution of the PDP states the process of the change of leadership. What the group led by Baraje has done is no more than attempted coup. There is an illegal attempt to take over the leadership of the PDP without following due process.

    “They have not followed due process not only because they have not followed the rule of the party, they have not followed due process because in the course of effecting their plans, they have attacked the integrity of the institution of democracy.

    “The first institution they first unnecessarily dragged into it is INEC. Now, the INEC should not have registered the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), when INEC knew that those people who floated that party were still card carrying members of the PDP.

    “These people are still card carrying members of the PDP today. Some of them are among those who are jostling now for recognition though illegally at the leadership of the PDP.

    “By this action INEC has again, got into the ring instead of staying outside by unnecessarily facilitating the break up of an existing party, contrary to Section 224 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

  • Baraje’ll salvage our party, says Kwara PDP

    Baraje’ll salvage our party, says Kwara PDP

    The Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is out to salvage the party from total collapse, the Kwara State chapter has said.

    Its chairman, Alhaji Ishola Balogun-Fulani, told reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, that it would be bad to allow the party to collapse.

    He said: “Corrections were supposed to be made and when the well meaning people and loyalists of the party saw the way PDP was going, into the brink of collapse, they said before it collapses some people must salvage the party. And this salvaging team has taken over because that is the dream of the founding fathers of PDP.”

    The chair, who was represented by the party’s secretary, Prince Yemi Afolayan, gave reasons for Baraje’s emergence as chair.

    He said: “There were noticeable breaches of party constitution. This national convention, which was supposed to be special national convention, we have it on authority that before the national convention date is fixed, NEC will meet and fix, and ratify the national convention. NEC fixed the date for July 20, and it changed. NEC did not fix the new date. So, the convention committee at that time fixed another date and dragged NEC to ratify it instead of NEC fixing the date. That is illegality as far as party is concerned.

    “The convention was supposed to have authentic delegates that participated in 2012 convention and these delegates included ministers, special adviser to president, special assistant to president, ambassadors, commissioners of government in the state and special advisers to governors.

    “All these people were disenfranchised. When there is a constant breach of the Constitution, then that executive cannot stand. Throughout the tenure of Tukur up till this moment, NEC is supposed to be held every quarter but he never held one. So there are a lot of illegalities that happened and people were fed up to the brim.”

    The chairman also debunked the alleged factionalisation of the party in the state, adding: “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), (authentic) Kwara state chapter’s attention has been drawn to the impersonation of the office of the state chairman of our great party and that of the party by some unscrupulous elements.”

    He added: “The impersonators of the office and indeed the state chapter of our great party are those dissidents whose antecedents in the political arena confirm these political jobbers that would hang to anything for survival.

    “The state chapter of our party remains loyal and committed to the authentic PDP whose vision is to provide honest and selfless service to the generality of Nigerians.

    “The Bamanga Tukur leadership is outdated and it has been dropped into waste basket of history as Baraje leadership has not only been acknowledged, embraced and endorsed but it has come to stay.

    “While we urge all party men and women and our teeming supporters across the 16 local government areas of the state to ignore the ranting of the impersonators and remain focused and united, our party is one our political structure remains formidable.

    “The party will not be deterred by these rented impersonators whose antecedent is known as dissidents. They are always available to serve as an agent of destabilisation. The Kwara PDP Chairman is Ishola Balogun Fulani .”

  • Wamakko, Lamido, Kwankwaso, others to lose seats – Tukur

    Wamakko, Lamido, Kwankwaso, others to lose seats – Tukur

    . . . Atiku, Oyinlola, Baraje risk expulsion

     The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has vowed to ensure that governors and National Assembly members that joined the Abubakar Baraje led breakaway faction of the party lose their seats.

    Similarly, Tukur said other PDP chieftains that joined the faction would be expelled from the ruling party.

    At a press conference he addressed at the party’s secretariat on Wednesday, the PDP chairman described leaders of the breakaway faction as impostors, saying that security agencies have been detailed to treat them as such.

    He said: “Consequently, we shall ensure that any person who is not duly elected into any leadership position in our great party and has not been duly assigned any role but goes ahead to arrogate such to himself will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

    “Similarly, all persons elected on the platform of our great party at all levels who identify with these enemies of the oneness and greatness of our party shall have their seats declared vacant as required by law.

    “We shall leave no stone unturned to ensure that such persons and indeed any other individual who attempts to subvert the leadership of the PDP shall reap in full, the consequences of such actions.”

    Stating that the PDP has no faction, Tukur said there was neither room nor reason whatsoever for such a claim under any guise.

    “The PDP has only one duly elected National Executive Committee (NEC) under my chairmanship. I wish therefore to state with all emphasis that any group of persons parading themselves as leaders of NEC or any other organ of our party are impostors and I urge all Nigerians, especially the security agencies and other institutions of democracy to regard them as such.

    “Let me state categorically that the PDP as the sole custodian of the sacred mandate of over 160 million Nigerians and who in the last fourteen years has lifted high the banner of democracy will not fold its arms while some undemocratic and unpatriotic elements destroy our common destiny by causing divisions and confusion among the people.

    “There is only one lawfully recognised PDP and I am firmly in charge, “Tukur declared.

     

     

  • Baraje’s faction asks INEC to deregister Tukur’s PDP

    Baraje’s faction asks INEC to deregister Tukur’s PDP

    A BIG question mark is hanging on Bamanga Tukur’s membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it emerged yesterday.

    The Alhaji Kawu Baraje faction is pleading with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the Tukur faction for failing to comply with Section 222(D) of the Nigerian Constitution, which requires a political party to notify the electoral umpire about an alteration in its constitution.

    This is aprt of the statement of claims, which the Baraje faction is taking before the Lagos High Court. The PDP faction is also asking the court to declare Tukur an illegal chairman of the ruling party on account of the claim that he was not appropriately accepted as a member of the party after his expulsion by the National Executive Council in 2001.

    The statement of claims reads: “It will be recalled that the 2009 PDP constitution was amended, which brought about the 2012 PDP constitution.

    “Evidence has surfaced to prove that strange clauses, which were not part of the proposed amendment were inserted into the original version of the 2012 constitution and those alterations were not approved by the party convention and the National Executive Committee, thereby making the document invalid.

    “The forged 2012 constitution was not equally filed before INEC as required by the constitution, thereby making the PDP constitution upon which the 2013 convention was held an invalid document and the outcome of that convention invalid, as it was held without valid constitution.

    “These evidence can be seen in the approved memo by the PDP NEC upon which the amendment was done in the 2012 and the original version of the PDP constitution filed with INEC.”

    Stating the reasons why Tukur could not preside over the PDP convention, the statement noted: “Exactly on the 31 May, 2001, the PDP NEC, after its meeting held in Abuja, expelled eight members of the party in accordance with the PDP constitution, which gives the NEC the powers to discipline NEC members who breach the constitution.

    “They were expelled after NEC considered and adopted the report of the Iro Dan Musa-led PDP Disciplinary Committee. Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Don Etiebet, Asheik Jarma, Ume-Ezeoke, Emmanuel Ibeshi, Harry Marshal and Gbenga Olawepo were the ones expelled from the PDP.

    “Note that Article 10(b) iii of the PDP 2009 constitution and Article 8(17) of the 2012 amended constitution, which holds that any member of the party who loses his membership by expulsion can only return to the party with the approval of the party executive at his ward, state and national levels, who shall give him a waiver.

    “Since the expulsion of Bamanga Tukur in 2001, he has not complied with the above requirement of the PDP constitution, meaning that his purported participation at the 2012 convention where he was elected was a fraud and invalid, as he is not yet a member of the party.”

    The Baraje faction is also seeking the declaration of the August 2013 convention of the PDP as illegal, because of the “illegal delegates” in the convention, the disqualification of duly elected delegates by the Screening Subcommittee of the National Convention Committee, and the failure of the party to comply with the provision of Section 85(1) of the Electoral Act, which holds that “a registered political party shall give INEC at least 21 days notice of any convention, congress, conference or meeting convened for the purpose of electing members of its executive committees, and other governing bodies.”

    Based on this provision, the Baraje faction is claiming that since the NEC of the PDP ratified the conduct of the 2013 national convention in its meeting of August 22, and the congress took place nine days after the NEC meeting on August 31, the party has run foul of the required 21 days notice required to inform INEC about it.

    The faction also claims that there are evidence that unelected delegates from the South West Zonal Caretaker Committee participated and voted at the 2013 national convention, contravening Section 85(3) of the 2010 Electoral Act, which states that “the election of members of the executive committee or other governing body of a political party, including the election to fill a vacant position in any of these bodies, shall be conducted in a democratic manner and allowing for all members of the party or duly elected delegates to vote in support of a candidate of their choice”. The faction claims that the decision of the screening subcommittee to screen delegates less than 24 hours before the convention, falls short of democratic conduct as it does not afford disqualified delegates the opportunity to press for justice.

    The faction also further claims that the action of Chief Uche Secondus and his supporters to wear vests seeking for votes for Secondus to be elected as deputy national chairman on the convention grounds, violates Article K, Page 8, of the PDP Code of Conduct for Conventions, which states that “a party member, aspirant, candidate or agent shall not canvass for votes within the vicinity of the congress venue or party primary convention”.