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Tag: Chief Richard Kpodo

  • Corrupt politicians asking for Jonathan’s second coming – APC chieftain

    Corrupt politicians asking for Jonathan’s second coming – APC chieftain

    Former Interim Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Bayelsa State, Chief Richard Kpodo, Monday, said that corrupt politicians were behind the call for former President Goodluck Jonathan to return for his second term in 2019.

    Kpodo slammed politicians clamouring for the second coming of Jonathan describing them as ignorant and paid sycophants.

    He said such persons were only on a mission to further institutionalise corruption and bad governance following their inability to have their way in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

    Kpodo, who is a leader of the APC, also cleared Buhari of any blame in the nation’s current economic woes.

    He expressed confidence that the ongoing war against corruption and economic policies of the present administration would return Nigeria to the part of prosperity.

    Kpodoh, a former Security Adviser in the state, contended that despite a drastic fall in oil prices, the Buhari’s administration had made steady progress returning stolen funds belonging to states to assist in paying salaries of workers.

    He further said the current administration embarked on developmental projects, noting that a Buhari’s giant strides were strange to Jonathan’s government.

    Kpodo said: “Jonathan’s administration was corrupt and he has enjoyed cover up from political jobbers.The Obasanjo’s administration earned N17trn from crude oil sales within eight years and left behind $45bn external reserves and $3.348bn external debt.

    “Late President Umaru Y’Adua grew the reserves to $64bn within just one year and the administration was able to finance 15 months of imports despite the 2008/2009 world economic meltdown.

    “Hence, Nigeria survived the meltdown because of the political will of Yar’Adua’s administration to save. Despite the tough economic reality at that time, Yar’Adua left $47.7bn in reserves and an external debt of $3.94bn. Meanwhile, the administration earned only N9trn from crude oil sales within that short period.

    “The Goodluck Jonathan administration witnessed an oil boom when Brent crude sold for over $100 per barrel, with the regime earning N51trn within a period of five years. But because of corruption, the administration did not only squander the oil revenue but even depleted the reserves.

    “The same Brent crude sold for as low as $35 per barrel at a point shortly after Buhari took over power and had only managed to climb to about $48 just recently.That was how he left Bayelsa indebted before handing the state over to Chief Timipre Sylva.”

    Kpodo also described the poor handling of the 13 per cent derivation by the Niger Delta governors as criminal.

    Kpodo added: “The people should allow the present administration to investigate arrest and recover monies stolen from the 13 per cent derivation funds. Some of the governors immediately they collect the money, they head for outside the country”.

  • Federal might won’t deliver Sylva’

    A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Chief Richard Kpodo, on Monday warned that federal might would not deliver the party’s candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, in the December 5 governorship election.

    Speaking at a news conference in Yenagoa, Kpodo, a former Chairman of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (NPDP), said that Sylva allegedly subverted the rules of the APC to become the party’s flagbearer.

    He implored President Muhammadu Buhari to keep to his promise of changing the old ways of doing things and enforce the desired change Nigerians yearn for in the interest of justice and fair play.

    Kpodo claimed that Sylva’s emergence would spell doom for the APC, saying the primary that produced the ex-governor was a charade.

    He said: “Though President Muhammadu Buhari, in his Independence Day nationwide broadcast declared that Nigerians should depart from their old ways and characters, the fraud perpetrated during the charade called primary election in Bayelsa APC was the old electoral way of ‘defrauding’ the people.

    “If the APC, Timipre Sylva and his cohorts in Abuja believe that the plot to deploy the federal might against the people of the state will deliver Sylva from failure, they are wrong.

    “The people of the state watched with renewed interest as Sylva’s fraud was executed. And they are ready to show the APC that such fraudulent change is not needed in Bayelsa. Instead, they may continue supporting the current administration in place.

    “For the Bayelsa APC to get it right, the time for the change is now. And it must start with the cancellation of the fraudulent primary conducted by Sylva and his boys.”

    Kpodo alleged that Sylva and his gang of politicians, within and outside the state, thwarted the decision of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) on the conduct of a free, fair and credible primary.

    He claimed that Sylva hijacked the process from Abuja by selecting members of the Election Committee led by Brig.-Gen Monsur Dan-Ali.

    He said that Sylva came into the state at about 11:00pm in company with the Electoral Committee members and hid them in an undisclosed area to do his bidding at a venue not known to members, particularly aspirants.

    Kpodo commended the three governorship aspirants who stood up and protested against the primary and applauded their decision to head for court to seek redress.

     

  • APC, Dickson trade words over party crisis

    The All Progressive Congress (APC), Bayelsa State chapter, has accused the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, of hiring a former state Security Adviser, Chief Richard Kpodo, to create crisis in the party.

    The APC in a statement signed by its state Chairman, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe, insisted that Kpodo, who was expelled from the party was being used by the governor to destabilize APC ahead of the 2016 governorship election.

    But Dickson dismissed the allegation and advised the APC to deal with its self-inflicted problems instead of trading blames.

    Kpodo in a press conference set up a parallel Executive Committee, proclaiming himself the chairman of the party.

    The party in the statement said it initially wanted to ignore Kpodo “for the fact that he had been expelled from the party with ignominy,” but decided to reply him for the benefits of some persons who are “oblivious of his tainted background as a blackmailer and political jobber.”

    APC urged the people to disregard Kpodo’s antics, describing him as a drowning man, a nuisance and a stooge in the hand of Dickson’s administration.

    The statement said: “It should be recalled that a few months ago, Kpodoh declared that the APC in the state was dead on arrival because the party refused his demand to be made state chairman.

    “Since then he had been working to sabotage the party, hence he was expelled. It is now baffling that he has turned around to declare himself the state chairman of a party he said was dead on arrival!

    “We are not unaware of the antecedent of Kpodoh. He has always lend himself useful as an agent of destabilization in state. This has been his way of life. That is why he is today being used by the Bayelsa State government to cause confusion in the APC. He will not succeed.”

    The party also lamented the attacks on its members by the state command of the Nigerian Police.

    It said the command had allowed itself to be used as an agent of doom by the state government, adding that the police had been used to harass its members.

    “We want to let the state police command to realize that if the police has one million men, we have civilian police who are more than that, and if they are 500,000 the APC civilian police is more than a million.

    “We believe that we are in a democracy and it is obvious that a supposed unbiased umpire like the police is now allowing itself to be used by the state government against the opposition.

    “The Inspector General of Police is hereby called upon to investigate the activities of the state command and curb its excesses,” the party said.

     

  • ‘Blame northern leaders for Chibok abduction, insurgency’

    Bayelsa State former Security Adviser, Chief Richard Kpodo, on Tuesday lampooned northern leaders for failing to curtail the Boko Haram insurgency in their domains.

    Kpodo in a statement titled: “Enough is enough, North should leave Jonathan alone,” argued that the escalating violence in the region including the abduction of over 200 girls by the terrorists is an indication of collapsed traditional institutions.

    He recalled that the crises of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in the west and the militancy in the south-south were resolved by the elders and indigenes of the area.

    He insisted that elders and monarchs in all the crises-ridden communities in the north should provide required intelligence to free the abducted girls and end the insurgency since they know their terrains better than others.

    Kpodo, who also served as a special assistant when President Goodluck Jonathan was governor of the state said it was diversionary and unpatriotic to ask the President to resign because of insurgency.

    He maintained that the development in the north was a slap on the hitherto highly revered traditional institutions in that part of the country.

    Instead of blaming Jonathan, Kpodo asked the leaders to reclaim their lost glory by looking inwards to identify and solve the problems that led to the insurgency.

    He said: “Critics should leave President Goodluck Jonathan alone. The Boko Haram insurgency was not created by him and he should not be blamed by the weakness and helplessness of the Northern leadership at assisting security agencies to end the ugly killings.

    “The situation is redeemable if the Northern leaders rise up and work to put an end to their selfish political interest in 2015. President Goodluck Jonathan should remain calm and focused at rescuing the people of the North from wicked clutches of some Northern leaders.”

     

  • nPDP, CLO disagree with Dickson on foreign loan

    nPDP, CLO disagree with Dickson on foreign loan

    The new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) in Bayelsa State and the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) on Wednesday disagreed with the state governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, over his explanations on the N13 billion (60million Euros) fund obtained from Poland.

    Dickson had explained that the money was a proposed developmental grant from the Government of Poland tied to the construction of a Maritime Academy in Okpoama, Brass local government area of the state.

    While denying that the money was a loan being processed by his administration, the governor insisted that the Polish government intended to build the academy and recoup their investment within 30 years.

    But the interim leadership of the new PDP and CLO accused Dickson of half truth, saying he was deceiving people in the state with his rhetorics.

    The interim Chairman of the Kawu Baraje-led nPDP, Chief Richard Kpodo, asked the governor to resign for allegedly lying to the state.

    He said: “Dickson lied that the facility is not a loan and the investment recovery plan mapped out by Poland does not have anything to do with the state government.

    Also, the state Chairman of CLO, Chief Nengi James, rising from an emergency meeting of the body, said the governor’s explanation left much to be desired.

    He said such attempt to cover-up the issue was contradictory and a deliberate act to promote falsehood in governance.

    James in 10-point communiqué he signed alongside the Secretary of CLO, Mr. Timi Igoli, after the meeting, said the governor’s attempt to explain the deal had thrown up many questions.

    He said the hurried manner in which the state House of Assembly approved the deal was worrisome.