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  • BoT member calls for unity in Ondo APC

    BoT member calls for unity in Ondo APC

    A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Board of Trustees (BOT), representing Ondo State, Chief Jamiu Ekungba, has appealed to members of the party not to allow divisions to thwart the chances of the party in winning next year’s governorship  election in the state.

    Ekungba made the appeal in Owo, while briefing party stakeholders about the outcome of his reconciliation tour of the state.

    Ekungba, who is a governorship aspirant, said he was being directed by national leaders of the party to unite members, so that the party would not go into the election as a divided house.

    The APC leader said party members should sheathe  their swords, saying the coming elections is as important as that of 2012, which the party lost to Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

    He noted that since Mimiko is aware of President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war, he would do everything possible to prevent the APC from taking over the state.

    He said Mimiko will use all what he has to ensure that his candidate wins the election, to cover up the alleged mismanagement of funds by his administration.

    He said: “When Prof. Aderonmu was giving his speech few minutes ago, he said by the time Mimiko will be leaving office, Ondo State debt would have risen to N200billion. With this, Mimiko will like to take the coming election so serious to ensure that his candidate emerged winner, in order to cover up his illegal deals.

    “The defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was united prior to the 2012 election, but it nevertheless lost. Though some aspirants left the fold with their followers, the party remained united.

    “Now we are facing another battle. Our leaders believe that we will fail if we are not united in Ondo APC.

    “We must take over Ondo State; not for anything but for the sake of the unity and integration of the Southwest.

    “The truth of the matter is this, the era of oil boom is gone and it time for every geographical zones to seat down and do a research on how to develop their economy, so as to empower their citizens. Otherwise, there will be crisis in the land.

  • How PDP was destroyed, by BoT chair Haliru

    How PDP was destroyed, by BoT chair Haliru

    The Acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, yesterday said the violation of the zoning principle by vested interests destroyed the party.

    Mohammed, in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Emeka Nwakpa, attributed the fast declining fortune of the PDP to the abrogation of the zoning principle in 2011.

    The party jettisoned zoning to pave the way for the emergence of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as presidential candidate — a development which Mohammed said severely undermined the principle of equity and justice on which the party was founded.

    According to him, the PDP paid dearly for it with the loss of power at the centre in the last general election.

    He added that the development created crises of confidence among key stakeholders and eroded sense of belonging among many party faithful.

    Mohammed said: “When the founding fathers formed the party in 1998, they established the principle of justice and equity whereby power resided with the people, who could decide who became what at any point in time.

    “But over the time, the party swerved away and breached the principle thereby disrupting its internal democracy. When in 2011 the party abandoned its zoning formula, the party dealt on itself a major blow because that action served the first notice that it had disconnected with the masses. So we must go back to the culture of zoning and rotation of offices.

    “The PDP remains the only true national party in the country with its flag in all nooks and crannies whose members are assured that they can always aspire to any available position as long as zoning and rotation hold sway as a cardinal policy of the party”.

    He stated that it was high time the party addressed the situation where critical decisions were being dictated by the whims of a few moneybags and “higher bidders”, to the exclusion of other members.

    “We must run away from a practice that leaves the party at the mercy of moneybags who, more often than not, seek to hijack the processes of the party at the detriment of promoting genuine internal democracy through which only capable, credible and popular candidates can emerge to contest elections with assurance of victory”, he stated.

    Harping on the need to respect the supremacy of the party, the BoT chair said elected and appointed office holders should not be allowed to dominate party decisions while party meetings should be restricted to party offices in the states and the national level.

    “The policies and manifesto of the party should also guide the activities of public office holders who are either elected or appointed on the platform of the party in line with good governance and best practices”, Mohammed said.

    On party funding, he canvassed a system that will allow members make their statutory contributions to the party as prescribed by the party’s constitution, noting that it is a major sustainable means of getting the party to meet its obligations and responsibilities.

    He requested that the party give more attention to elders and founding fathers, many of whom he observed, are still in the party but are indifferent to the affairs and fortunes of the party, owing to lack of patronage.

    The BoT Chairman said, “In recent years, many of our leaders, elders and founding fathers have been abandoned in spite of their abiding interest in the party.

    “Some have left, some chose to remain but are either inactive, unconcerned or indifferent because nobody has bothered to look for them. This is not acceptable. If there is any time we need them for advice and counsel, it is now”.

    Incidentally, it was the same Mohammed that moved the motion for the adoption of former President Jonathan as the sole presidential candidate of the party for the 2015 general election.

    Moving the motion at a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the party’s national secretariat, Mohammed said: “We have never taken a wrong decision before. We cannot change a winning formula that has been working for us since 1999.

    “In PDP, we have a tradition of queuing up behind our leaders. President Jonathan has performed creditably as attested to by all the organs of the party.

    “Therefore, for the good of Nigeria and for the good work that the PDP is doing for the country, I move that the NEC endorses the candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s candidate in the 2015 election”.

    The motion was seconded by Second Republic governor of the old Anambra state, Senator Jim Nwobodo. It was adopted with a resounding ayes by the gathering of eminent party leaders.

  • Slap on democracy

    Slap on democracy

    •PDP’s sole adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan is a slap on the democratic process

    There is no doubt: every political party has a right to decide its mode of nomination for elected offices — and consensus is not necessarily undemocratic, since it presupposes the freewill of everyone involved to play it that way.

    But consensus is one thing.  Wilful blockage of others’ democratic access is another.  It is in this class of blockage of democratic access that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan, as sole candidate in the 2015 presidential election, falls.  That is why it is a slap on democracy.

    PDP party bosses, starting with the body of governors, then the Board of Trustees (BOT) and finally the National Executive Committee (NEC) on September 18, declared the president the PDP sole candidate, even if it has scheduled its presidential primary (now more of presidential candidate coronation) for December 6.  Not to be outdone too, David Mark, the Senate president, also announced the PDP national legislative caucus’s adoption of the president, pleading “continuity”.

    The main breach here is the doctrine of internal democracy.  If others were not allowed to test their popularity within the party, but were literally shouted down by a pleb of party bosses baying for the commander-in-chief, simply because he is president, what is the democracy in all of that?

    Yes, it could be argued that even advanced democracies, like the United States, often offer incumbent presidents a right of first denial, it is also fair to state that the circumstances are markedly different in Nigeria.

    To start with, the United States is a democracy of over 200 years, and its practices have evolved over the years.  Indeed, as late as the 1968 elections, incumbent President Lyndon Johnson faced such a fierce contest that he decided to opt out of the race, yielding the nomination to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who eventually lost to Republican candidate, Richard Nixon.

    In contrast, Nigeria is a new democracy, only in the 15th year of its fourth attempt at democracy.  Given that its earlier attempts crashed, Nigeria needs every reason to imbibe best global practices to deepen its delicate democracy.  Browbeating presidential aspirants, out of their legitimate rights, is certainly not one of those.

    Even more grievous and condemnable is the sheer impunity of it all.  As at the time of the adoption, PDP had not really started the presidential nomination process, aside from the charade of the Jonathan Trojan horse, named the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN).  Electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had not also given the green light for the primaries to start.  In essence then, what the PDP did was shut the door on legitimate democratic aspirations, even before the contest formally begins.  That is clear bad faith, executed in a most cavalier manner.  Nigerian democracy can only be the worse for it.

    But beyond the shameful conduct of a ruling party, which appears proudly and blissfully ignorant of the imperative to set good examples, there is something worrisome about the patent impunity in the Nigerian political psyche.  Lack of internal democracy is no PDP sole problem, though PDP has, more than any other party, tried a pretence at democratic practices, while really executing its penchant for imposition.  At Jonathan’s turn, unfortunately, the pretence is off.  Still, that does not make the opposition parties better, in their own claim to internal democracy.  But for Nigerian democracy to survive, all the players, ruling party and opposition, must swear themselves to good democratic conduct.

    Even then, it is imperative that opposition parties make the latest PDP gaffe as a departure point — from democratic turpitude to democratic rectitude.  Indeed, it is an ace these parties should latch on to, to make the PDP pay for its brazen anti-democratic conduct, if not outright outlawry, of staging illegal rallies and abusing the paraphernalia of state, just to arrive at a pre-determined partisan answer.

     

  • Crawford varsity loses BoT member

    Crawford University, Igbesa in Ogun State has lost a member of its Board of Trustees (BoT), Rev. Hector Abimbola Elebute.

    The late Elebute, who until his death, was a founding father of the Apostolic Faith Nigeria. He would be remembered for his insistence that Crawford University  should take off amid opposing views by other members of the board 14 year ago.

    The university, which started in 1995, was seen as a distraction by many members of the church. However, as the most senior member of the church and the only surviving of the four founding fathers, the late Elebute stood his ground and advised his colleagues to encourage the university to take off.

    The university Vice-Chancellor, Prof Samson Demola Ayanlaja, said the memory of the deceased would linger in the church and the university.

    “Elebute’s encouraging words still continue to propel and motivate the operations of this progressive bourgeoning university,” he said.

    Ayanlaja added: “I write on behalf of the Crawford University to appreciate God in admiring and saluting the odyssey of life of a peculiar treasure and colossus of the Apostolic Faith Church.

    “Our inimitable, beloved, courageous papa, the legendary Rev Hector Abimbola Elebute was a great soldier of Christ, defender of the faith, a bulwark to the overseers, a repository of knowledge, norms, customs and principles of the Apostolic Faith, a great pillar and commander of ethos and ethics of the church.”

    He described the late Elebute as a peaceful man and mentor to students and staff of the university, admonishing others to follow in his footstep.

    “One day all of us will depart no matter how old we are, and the work of everybody will follow him whether it is the right thing or not. If it is the right thing we will go to a place of rest, but if not it will be a bad experience for the dead soul,” he advised.

    The cleric, according to Ayanlaja, was a wise man. “He saw that the building of the university as necessary and endorsed the it when many refused. Now, all our children are benefitting from the university,” he added.

  • Don seeks synergy among communication experts

    Professor of Mass Communication at Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Idowu Sobowale, has called for synergy among communication scholars and professionals to maximise the contributions of communication to national development.

    He spoke in Lagos at a meeting of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) at Lagos Television (LTV 8), Ikeja.

    Sobowale, who chairs the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the association, noted that an effective collaboration among intellectuals and practitioners communication would allow the industry to benefit from research.

    He noted that given the social and political challenges in the country, there was need for research-based communication at various levels in a more focused manner.

    ACSPN’s President Prof. Lai Oso, who is dean, School of Communication,Lagos State University, Ojo, said the goal of the association was creating a platform for the mutual benefit of communication scholars and professionals.

    He said this would be beneficial to both groups, adding that the interaction would enhance academic research.

    Such need-based research would boost the relevance of communication research by benefiting industry practice through identifying areas of improvement and proposing innovations.

    The association has membership at the departments of Mass Communication in universities and polytechnics and communication professionals in the media, Public Relations, Advertising and corporate communications across the country.

    Its membership is also open to Nigerian communication scholars and professionals in the Diaspora.

    The association’s meeting was attended by communication scholars and professionals, including a former lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Onuora Nwuneli; Prof. Dayo Alao, of Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State (who is also a BoT member); ACSPN’s Vice-President, Prof. Kate Omenugha, of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State; Mr. Sola Hassan, of Lagos Television (LTV 8) and Mrs. Akinkugbe, an Abuja-based corporate communication consultant.

     

     

     

  • PDP: Battling to prevent more defections

    PDP: Battling to prevent more defections

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been jolted out of its delusion that a vacancy does not exist in the Presidency in 2015, following the recent explosion that shook the party to its foundation. Now, embattled party leaders are strategising on how to prevent more defections to the opposition, reports Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU.

    Had President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, taken decisive steps to avert the doom, perhaps, the explosion in the ruling party would have been averted.

    How to halt the spate of defections from the ruling party to the All Progressives Congress (APC) is now the concern of members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and National Working Committee (NWC), who have acknowledged that electoral disaster looms, ahead of the next general elections. As the PDP tries to prevent more defections, the APC is wooing more aggrieved chieftains, promising to address their grievances under the progressive platform.

    Party sources disclosed that the PDP is exploring a number of options to prevent more embarrassment. A former minister, who craved for anonymity, said that key party leaders have woken up to the reality that power shift is imminent, unless the PDP puts its house in order. ‘There have been defections before from the PDP, but this is going to have a significant effect”, said the party stalwart from the Northeast.

    Apart from threatening a legal action against the governors and other elective office holders who called it quit, chieftains loyal to the President and Tukur have been persuading federal legislators in the aggrieved governor’s camps to sheath their swords.

    The legal option, a party source said, was turned down, when some lawyers doubted its efficacy. A former member of the NWC from the Southwest, who spoke on the issues said that lawyers advised the party to explore political solution to prevent the escalation of the crisis. “We were reminded that some governors have previously defected to the PDP from other parties in the past”, he said.

    Also, the founding fathers and some BoT members have been dispatched to the six geo-political zones to arrest the drift to the main opposition camp. “What we are doing now is to identify the states not affected by the major defection and consolidate our hold there. But we also appreciate that, if we cannot resolve this crisis in a way that will make them return, we should ensure that we minimise acrimony across the chapters”, said the minister.

    A PDP elder from Lagos State, who expressed disgust at the poor handling of the crisis, lamented the split. “Governors are state leaders and they are powerful. We have not produced any PDP governor here, Therefore, we are not happy that we are losing more governors to our opponents. The crisis was not managed”, he fumed.

    However, he disagreed that the defection was final, saying that there is nothing that cannot be reversed in politics. “In 2007, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar left the party. But he later came back. Therefore, if the demands of those who left are met, under the right atmosphere, they will return to the fold. That is why we should not relent in this reconciliation effort, I mean, genuine reconciliation”, he added.

    The handwriting was bold on the wall. But gullible PDP leaders dismissed the anticipated explosion as a feeble threat. When the ‘G7’ governors protested the chairman’s leadership styles, he branded them as rebels. Tukur advised them to embrace reconciliation. But, as Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso, one of the protesting chieftains pointed out, the reconciliation was a shallow step, repeated window dressing and ill-focussed game plan orchestrated to make it appear that the acclaimed largest party could undergo a rebirth.

    To observers, PDP’s crisis is proportional to its size. State and local government chapters are not insulated from the logjam. Thus, when the aggrieved party faithful realised that the so-called reconciliation lacked the elements of candid dialogue, they withdrew their enthusiasm. Wielding the big stick, the NWC wanted to whip them into line by asking them to appear before the party’s disciplinary committee headed by Second Republic Transform Minister Dr. Umaru Dikko. The panel was still expecting them at the trial when five out of the seven ‘rebel’ governors -Kwankwanso (Kano), Muritala Nyako (Adamawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rotimi Ameachi (Rivers)-left the platform.

    Also, the departure of party big wigs, who worked for the party’s electoral victory in 2011, including Senator Bukola Saraki, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and Alhaji Kawu Baraje and other New PDP chieftains, decimated the ruling party.

    What is worrisome to the PDP is the analysis of the previous presidential election results, which revealed that the APC now has a better prospect. In the 2011 election,President Jonathan polled 22,495,187 votes as against General Muhammadu Buhari’s 12,214,853 votes. The result revealed a margin of 10,280,334 votes, which gave the President victory, despite Buhari’s impressive showing in the North.

    While Dr. Jonathan obtained the required 25 per cent in 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FTC), Buhari had 25 per cent in 17 states.

    In the breakdown, Buhari’s strongholds were as follows: Northwest- Jigawa: 663,994; Kaduna: 1,334,244; Kano: 1,624,543; Katsina: 1,162,919; Kebbi: 501,453; Sokoto: 540,769 and Zamfara: 624,515. The total vote cast in the region was 6,453,437.

    Northeast- Borno: 909,763; Yobe: 143,179; Bauchi: 1,315,209; Gombe: 459,898; Adamawa: 344,526 and Taraba: 257,986. The total was 3,430,561. The total votes cast from the two zones was 9,883,998.

    President Jonathan’s strongholds were the Southsouth and Southeast. The breakdown of his votes is as follows: Southsouth- Edo: 542,173; Delta: 1,378,851; Rivers: 1,817,762; Cross River: 709,382; Akwa Ibom: 1,165,629 and Bayelsa: 504,811. The total was 6,118,608.

    In the Southeast, the analysis is as follows: Anambra: 1,145,169; Abia: 542,173; Ebonyi: 480,592; Enugu: 802,144 and Imo: 1,190,179. The total vote was 4,160,179. The total for both zones was 10,278,865.

    Although the PDP strategists had envisaged a scenario where the aggrieved governors would opposed the President’s bid for a second term, they did not anticipate their defection to the APC. It was also evident that the PDP had lost hope in Zamfara, Borno and Yobe, the pre-dominantly Muslim states controlled by the APC.

    In the North, religion is a crucial factor in political calculation. Therefore, Kebbi, Katsina, Bauchi, and Gombe votes may not go to a candidate not from the North. Some analysts have disputed this, saying that it did not work in Buhari’s favour, as widely anticipated. These states had 4,176,485 votes. Thus, if it is subtracted from Dr. Jonathan’s 22,495,187 votes, they pointed out that the President would still have smiled away with 18,319,702 votes against Buhari’s 12,214,853 votes. By this calculation, they reckoned that Jonathan would still have won with 6,104,849 vote difference.

    However, in the Southwest, it is a different ball game. The calculation dill definitely be altered. Although the region voted for the President in 2011, it is doubtful, if he can repeat the feat in 2011. The analysis is as follows: Lagos: 1,281,688; Ogun: 309,177; Oyo: 484,758; Osun: 188,409; Ekiti: 135,009 and Edo: 542,173. The Southwest and Edo had 2,941,214 votes, giving the President 3,163,635 votes.

    “In 2015, we can build these scenarios. Northwest and Southwest, which usually have the highest number of votes, may tilt the pendulum towards the APC, to the disadvantage of the PDP. In the Northeast, the calculation is foggy. Boko Haram problem may result into voter apathy”, said analyst, who added: “Even, in Kaduna, the home of Vice President Nnamdi Sambo, the PDP may not do well. If it does, it is will not be due to the influence of the Vice President because he is not perceived as a strong man”.

    But, the PDP’s calculation also is that the Middlebelt is not in hot romance with the APC, despite its footing in Kwara and Benue. “PDP may want to rely on the votes from this area to neutralise the votes coming from the Northwest and Northeast zones. But, now that Kwara is not for the PDP, it is dicey”, said a PDP member from Lagos, who also craved for anonymity.

    In 2015, the expectation of the PDP may be dashed in the Southeast, owing to what observers have described as the ‘Okorocha factor’. The Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, is consolidating his hold in the state, ahead of the poll. This may undermine PDP’s projection in the region.

    In 2011, the sentiment in the Southsouth was that Dr. Jonathan needed a home base to launch himself to power. But, it is a disunited region today. Although Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and parts of Delta will gravitate towards the Presidency, it is not certain that Rivers will fall in line.

    Both PDP and APC have returned to the drawing board. The original APC states remain a no-go area for the PDP. The performance of APC governors have sealed the hope of the conservative bloc to bounce into reckoning. The APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the tempo of achievement will be sustained in the interest of the party and the electorate.

    In the spirit of the merger, proposals for the harmonisation of party structures are being considered by the party leadership. Lagos APC chieftain, Alhaji Abiodun Sunmola, said the governors will not regret their defection. Echoing the Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, who said the APC will be a party of equal founders and joiners, he said there will be no discrimination against the new members.

    “In Lagos, we are setting the pace. There is no tension among members of the merging parties. We have resolved to be one and we are acting as one and that will be the situation in other states”, he said.

    In Kwara, the merger generated ripples. But the national leaders of the party have restored confidence by reconciling the Saraki and Dele Belgore forces.

    In Adamawa, Nyako and Buba Marwa camps have also been reconciled. A party source said that efforts are being intensified to woo the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) chieftains led by Abubakar.

    The APC reconciliation train has also rolled into Sokoto and Kano states for the purpose of uniting Kwakwanso and his predecessor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, and Kwakwanso and former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau.

  • ‘Nigeria’s retail market contributes 3% to GDP’

    The launch of the Retail Council of Nigeria (RCN).

    The retail market, according to an official of the RCN, contributes three per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    Addressing reporters in Lagos, a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the council, Haresh Keswani, said: “Organised retail has a direct relationship to economic growth. The United States and Britain have over 80 per cent each of the organised retail market’s contributions to their economic growth. In Japan and India, the organised retail market contributes about 66 per cent and 10 per cent to economic growth.”

    The RCN official noted that Nigeria’s three per cent was from the “unorganised” retail market in the country.

    According to him, 27 per cent of the global GDP is contributed by organised retail market.

    Keswani said: “Across the globe, the retail market employs 17.1 per cent of the workable population. In the U.S., it accounts for 14 per cent. Organised retail supports the development of various sectors across the economic environs of the country and it assists to conserve foreign exchange.”

    He added that an organised retail market would increase the revenue base for the government.

  • Investors Protection Fund finalises draft rules

    The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Investors Protection Fund (IPF) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is finalising the draft rules for the IPF.

    It would be recalled that the board of IPF had prepared a new set of draft rules governing the operation and effective management of the fund on June 11. These rules were made available to stakeholders on June 14, this year.

    Head, Public Relations, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Dante Martins, said the Exchange has received comments from stakeholders and has made necessary amendments to the rules.

    He said the final draft will soon be presented to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its approval in line with the provisions of Section 201(b) of the Investment and Securities Act 2007.

    According to him, a lot of work is going into ensuring that the rules of the IPF are well-structured given the importance of investors’ protection in the Nigerian capital market.

    Part XIV of the Investment and Securities Act 2007 requires the Nigerian Stock Exchange to establish and maintain an investors protection fund to compensate investors with genuine claims of pecuniary loss against Dealing Member firms resulting from insolvency, bankruptcy or negligence of a Dealing Member firm of a securities exchange or capital trade points; and defalcation committed by a Dealing Member firm or any of its directors, officers, employees or representatives in relation to securities, money or any property entrusted to, or received by the Dealing Member firm in its course of business as a capital market operator.

  • Gana seeks autonomy for local governments

    Gana seeks autonomy for local governments

    The Federal Government has been advised to make the 419 local government areas that make up the northern part of the country autonomous.

    A former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, gave the advice on Monday at the inauguration of the Northern Local Government Chairmen’s Forum (NLGF) in Abuja.

    Prof. Gana, who in his keynote address as the chairman of the Board of Trustee (BoT) of NLGF, noted that local government is a strategic and vital organ of government, also advised the chairmen not to divert resources allocated to them for the development of their councils.

    He urged the chairmen to develop a tremendous capacity for accountability, stressing that accountability is very important in public office especially at the local government levels.

    “We want to use this opportunity to appreciate the Senate and the House of Representatives, that they are very much on course that the autonomy of local government is well spelt out, well protected, and well constitutionally provided in the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria. But, please, use that autonomy well, use it for the people of Nigeria,” he said.

    The newly formed forum comprises chairmen of 419 local government areas from the 19 northern states in the country.

    The forum is aimed at fostering unity and peace among the people and engendering the socio-economic development of the region.

  • BOT chair: PDP moves to prune number of contestants

    BOT chair: PDP moves to prune number of contestants

    •Non-BOT members to be barred from contesting

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) plans to prune down the number of contestants for the chairmanship of its Board of Trustees (BoT), according to sources.

    The move is to avoid what party sources call a rowdy contest.

    The BoT position became vacant last April following the resignation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the office.

    Twenty persons signified their intention to occupy the seat at the close of nomination on December 7, 2012.

    Sunday Nation learnt that party stakeholders and the National Executive Committee (NEC) are of the view that the large number of contestants is not in the best interest of the party and have decided to prevail on some of the contestants to forgo their ambition.

    The stakeholders want the party to approach the 2015 elections as a united group.

    One source said: “The concern was that the party may once again return to its factionalised past if all the aspirants are allowed to go to town and seek support in their bid to win the BOT chairmanship.

    “ It was feared by a good number of party elders that the aftermath of a rowdy BOT election with as many as 20 eminent and respected party leaders seeking just one position will negatively affect the fortune of the party.”

    A crucial meeting where the stakeholders took the position was at the instance of current BOT members of the party .The meeting held in Abuja decided to exclude non-members of the Board from the chairmanship race as part of efforts to reduce the large number of aspirants in the contest. The source added:”Stakeholders also observed that some people who are not members of the BOT have written to signify their intention to vie for the position of Board chairman. The decision is that such people will be screened out of the race because the party’s constitution forbids them from participating in the election.

    “The party’s constitution stipulates that its chairman and secretary are to be elected from among its members.

    “Consequently, non-members should not even be in the race. For those who applied, the resolve is that they should be screened out. Don’t also forget that those who were not members of the Board might not be allowed to be part of the meeting where the voting exercise will be carried out. So how then will they stand for election at such a gathering.”

    According to the party’s constitution, the 98 members of the Board will decide who becomes the next BoT chairman.

    The assignment of convincing some identified BOT members to shelve their ambition, sources said, has been given to a committee put together at the Abuja meeting.

    “Aside from the decision to stop non-BOT members from the race, a committee was also set up to talk to some other identified aspirants to shelve their ambition. There was also a suggestion that the party should avoid an election and use the consensus option in choosing its BOT chairman.

    “The suggestion was strongly considered by the leaders as a way of avoiding a crack within the party ahead of the 2015 general election.”

    Though the party is yet to make public the list of candidates, Sunday Nation learnt that among those who have shown interest are former Minister of Works, Chief Tony Anenih; a former National Chairman of the party, Senator Ahmadu Ali; and Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu. Also in the race also are former President of the Senate, Ken Nnamani, a former National Deputy Chairman of the party (South), Chief Shuaib Oyedokun, Second Republic Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, and former BoT chairman of All Nigeria Party, Chief Harry Akande.

    The board is scheduled to meet on January 8, to decide who becomes its next chairman.