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Tag: crisis

  • Find lasting solution to farmers, herders crisis – NANS tells FG

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Thursday appealed to the Federal Government to find lasting solution to the persistent farmers and herders crisis.

    The association’s spokesman, Mr Bestman Okereafor, made the appeal in Enugu.

    He said that the consistent farmers and herdsmen crisis had claimed lives and rendered many Nigerians homeless.

    “NANS is suggesting to the Federal Government to regulate the activities of the herdsmen across the federation by considering ranching that is in the long run for Nigerian herdsmen,’’ Okereafor said in statement.

    He, however, cautioned a former Minister of Science and Technology, retired Maj.-Gen. Sam Momah, who was currently quoted as allegedly saying “Nigeria may cease to be as a country in the next 12 years if nothing was done to restructure it.’’

    “NANS considers this speech made by Maj.-Gen. Momah as an unwarranted one, and one capable of causing unnecessary tension in the country at this time when the country is undergoing some security challenges.

    “Rather, we expect him as a former minister of the country to spread and preach the gospel of peace as 2019 General Elections beckons,’’ Okereafor said.

  • Crisis rocks IYC as chairman ‘escapes death’ in Bayelsa

    Crisis is rocking the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Central Zone, following alleged attempts on the lives of the zone’s Chairman, Tare Porri and some elders in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Porri, yesterday, said he survived an attempt on his life by the Vice-Chairman of the council, Amiebi  Turner and some of his loyalists, who invaded the venue of a peace meeting convened by the elders in council.

    Briefing journalists at his office in Izon House yesterday, Porri said his deputy stormed the venue of the meeting with bus loads of hoodlums and held him and other elders at gunpoint.

    He said properties belonging to the Chairman of the Elders Advisory Council, Mike Wenibowei, who provided the venue for the meeting were destroyed while the entire area was raided raided with valuables carted away.

    Wenibowei,  former Chairman of the IYC, confirmed the incident and said he saw the thugs holding at least three guns adding that the invaders caused panic in the area through many gunshots they fired into the air.

    Wenibowei said it took the intervention of security forces to calm the situation.

    Turner and his loyalists were said to be angry  following an alleged plan  by Porri to handover to one of his supporters before leaving his chairmanship to contest the State House of Assembly seat for Ekeremor Constituency 1 in Bayelsa.

    It was gathered that the thugs attacked and beat up two policemen, including an inspector sent to serve an invitation from the Commissioner of Police in the state Don Awunah, to the suspects in Ogboloma.

    The policemen were reportedly hospitalized after the thugs descended and vented their anger on them.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Asinim Butswat, confirmed the attack on the security operatives, but said he needed a detailed briefing to get the facts of the matter.

    “I am aware, I just want to get detailed explanation before I talk to you”, he said.

    Porri said he was saved by the intervention of his security aide and the malfunctioning of the locally-made pistol when his deputy pulled the trigger.

    He said: “The Treasurer tried to hit me and when I dodged, I saw Amiebi trying to pull the trigger and the gun did not respond. Immediately I used my last strength to hit him and I don’t know how I got out. He still followed me and was aiming at me before my security detail faced him and that was how I escaped being assassinated.

    “ They raided the whole street with all their valuables. As I address you, even my phone is still with him and they have vowed to kill me , my wife and my children and they will burn down my house,”, he said.

    Porri called on the Inspector General of Police, the Commander, Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, the police, Director of the Department of State Services in the state and other security agencies to come to his aid.

    “ My life and those of my lieutenants are in serious danger. These hoodlums have vowed to eliminate us. They feel the only way to take over leadership of the IYC is by killing all of us. I have reported to the security agencies”, he added.

    Porri named others who attacked him as Beledayon Barracks, Juliana Okpu and Daniel Perebi, who are also members of the executive committee of the IYC.

    But Turner denied all the allegations describing them as malicious and fallacious and asked the public to disregard the claims.

    He said: “The allegations  that I mobilise thugs to disrupt meeting, held a gun, and all that and fabricated. I wish the general public to disregard these allegations leveled against me because it was built and watered on falsehood.

    “I was not invited for the conflict resolution  meeting with the Chairman and other stakeholders of Council,but i got the information and went there to make my stand and raise critical issues that could lead to crisis in the zonal leadership.

    “We had series of argument which resulted in reactions by some followers of Porri and, which I find condemable in strong terms. I had to run for my life because  I was targeted. I never held a gun or involved in any uproar”.

     

  • Crisis: Accord Party leaders ask National Chairman to resign

    National Chairman of Accord Party, Alhaji Mohammed Nalado, has been given a seven-day ultimatum to resign his position over allegations of anti-party activities. The ultimatum was given by the leadership of the party in the South West zone after a meeting held at Grand Serene Hotel, Ibadan, Oyo State. All the state chapters of the party in the zone except Oyo, were unanimous on the ultimatum.

    Osun State chairman of the party, Otunba Segun Fanibe, who addressed journalists after the meeting, said Nalado has contravened Article 20 of the party’s constitution by allegedly engaging in acts that brought the party into public ridicule, disrepute and embarrassment. Fanibe was flanked at the press briefing by all the Southwest states chairman and other party leaders.

    Fanibe, who said the party had for the past three weeks sought audience with Nalado on some issues but the party boss could not be seen, stated that the failure of the national chairman to either resign within seven days or call for NWC meeting in order to set up a seven-man disciplinary committee “will cause the AP in the Southwest to meet again within two weeks, to decide on our continued membership of the party.”

     

  • Ondo APC supporters accuses chair of causing crisis

    •’Allegation untrue’

    Supporters of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo East Local Government have petitioned Police Commissioner Gbenga Adeyanju and other security agents to intervene in the party’s crisis.

    In the petition signed by two executives of the party in the local government, Roseline Okafor and Jimoh Adebayo and two council executives, Alhaji Rabiu Awotunde and Olafisoye Festus, the supporters accused the APC Chairman, Ade Adetimehin, of causing the crisis.

    The Nation learnt that there was a clash at the council’s secretariat at Bolorunduro and two supporters were injured and hospitalised.

    The supporters urged security officials to call Adetimehin and his cohorts to order, to prevent anarchy.

    However, Adetimehin, speaking through APC’s Director of Media and Publicity, Steve Otaloro, described the allegation as frivolous and untrue, stressing that he was not involved in any dispute.

    According to him, as the chairman, he was aware of the rift among members in the local government, which was being investigated for settlement.

     

  • An apology and its crisis

    WHEN Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was jailed in Maiduguri, he took ill and was hospitalised. The judge who jailed him, Justice Gregory Okoro-Idogwu, was visiting. Told that Fela (of exciting memory) was hospitalised, he decided to see him. Perhaps out of sympathy or curiosity or troubling conscience – or all.

    The judge saw Fela and, according to the music icon, confessed that he was under pressure to jail him. He apologised. Fela, a master of yabis, quickly sent a message to his younger brother, the late Beko Ransome-Kuti, saying “the judge don beg me”. Newspapers picked it up, splashing the story on their front pages with the screaming headline, “Judge don beg me – Fela.” His fans, sense of defiance got tougher, with their hero’s unbroken spirit.

    Even after the death of the Abami Eda (the Weird One), as Fela loved being hailed by his admirers, the question remained in legal and social circles if actually Justice Okoro-Idogwu begged him for forgiveness, but his fans would not stop hailing him in public: “The judge don beg me!” He, characteristically, replied with a clenched fist thrown up in the air.

    The music giant also waxed an album, “Unnecessary Begging”, to reflect the mood of that time. The sober lyrics dramatised the often hostile encounter between a lender and his debtor. “Unnecessary begging as we dey call am for area, oro ebe o sele (We call this unnecessary begging; no need for it.”

    Why is “Editorial Notebook” waxing lyrical now? Is this a voyage into the  seductive world of music to take a soothing break from the depressing  occurrences of these days? No. Not at all.

    It is all in a bid to query the idea and spirit of the act of begging for forgiveness. When is an apology genuine? Is saying “sorry” a true reflection of a remorseful heart?

    Since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the magic word “sorry” on Monday, it has been difficult to ascertain whether Nigerians will accept the apology and let bygones be bygones. After all, we are known to forget so fast any evil visited on us as if it never happened. We even at times ascribe it all to God’s will against which we, being human, are powerless. Besides, we often say, to Him belongs justice and the power to say, “Go and sin no more”.

    PDP Chair Uche Secondus, who delivered the apology, said: “I am the very first to admit that our party made many mistakes. Consequently, we were roundly sanctioned by Nigerians, occasioning our loss at the polls in 2015. Let me seize this opportunity to apologise to Nigerians unequivocally for the several shortcomings of our party in the near and far past. It was all part of our evolution process without which there can be no maturity.”

    He spoke of “impunity”, “imposition” and all that. Secondus was not done. He  announced the PDP’s plan to “rescue” Nigeria.

    The apology sparked a wave of comments. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) sympathised with the PDP and advised it to go all the way by confessing its sins , making some restitution and staying in the purgatory for more than the 16 years for which, according to the party, it sinned against Nigerians.

    As if taking a cue from the APC, many, including ordinary folks and notable compatriots, began to scream:

    “No, no; confess first.”

    “Eh!  PDP don beg, but where is the loot?”

    “Good, but surrender the loot first.”

    “No to half confession; full disclosure; tell us who stole what; where is the loot?”

    And so on and so forth.

    Before we could make sense of the fast motion the commotion was taking, Mr Secondus somehow recanted. He said the apology was for allowing  APC to mount the saddle in the first place.

    But that did not stop the hullabaloo; it only deepened the row.   It was the tower of Babel all over again – all because of a questionable apology.

    “Ha, can PDP ever repent, let alone confess? If PDP confesses, won’t Nigeria burn?”

    “Will Orubebe tell the world the writer of the script he was delivering as Jega was announcing the result of that election?”

    A colleague was wondering why Nigerians were driven to such frenzy by a  former ruling party’s mere apology on behalf of its reckless and feckless leaders.

    He had the answer. He said the Secondus apology came the same day when the news broke of the death of Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox (MMM) founder Sergei Mavrodi of a heart attack. Tens of thousands of Nigerians had subscribed to the Ponzi scheme, losing their life savings. Students eager to join the gravy train invested their school fees. Instead of making a kill, they killed themselves.

    Mavrodi’s death, needless to say, sparked an avalanche of comments on the social media.

    Samples:  “So finally confirmed. Sergei Mavrodi is dead. Nigerians. Amadioha and Sango double barrel strike for the man’s heart. Chai!”

    “MMM has been scamming people all over the world without repercussions…Just the small money scammed in Nigeria last year… the dude is dead. So Amadioha can kill someone in Moscow?”

    “Sergei  Mavrodi is afraid of Nigeria coming to the World Cup in June. He will resurrect in August after the World Cup.”

    And this: “JAMB 2019 question. What did Sergei Mavrodi die of? (a) Spiritual attack (b) Counter attack (c) Heart attack (d) Armed robbers attack (e) All of the above.”

    There is also a picture of a group of youths bearing stones of various sizes, peeping behind a wall, apparently laying ambush for somebody. The caption: “Nigerians who died because of MMM waiting for Sergei Mavrodi at the gates of hell.”

    Back to Secondus and his apology for the PDP:  “We are sorry – PDP. Sorry for what? Without confession, there is no forgiveness (1John 2:1),” many responded, going spiritual.

    Others rejoined: “Don’t mind them. Apology rejected. They know that the foreign reserve has gone up to $42.8billion. They are thinking of how to share it. No way.”

    Secondus’ apology came as former President Goodluck Jonathan protested that Vice- President Yemi Osinbajo said N150billion was looted from the treasury two weeks before the 2015 election. Dr Jonathan said he was in Sierra Leone pursuing the cause of democracy when he learnt that a smear campaign against him was in the offing. “When I was in power, I said my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. Even out of power, I continue to hold that belief.”

    He added that “no matter how far and fast falsehood has travelled, it must be overtaken by truth”.

    That, obviously, did not go down well with those Dr Jonathan was addressing. “While Jonathan is busy defending his integrity,” a source told this newspaper, “his wife Dame Patience is asking for an out-of- court settlement “of all suspicious transactions and funds traced to her”. Her lawyer, said the source, wrote to the EFCC. “About 31 persons and companies paid over $11,489,069.03 into her two domiciliary accounts,” he said.

    Mrs Jonathan had earlier claimed she inherited the fortune of her wealthy mother who had passed on. Is she ready to reveal how her mother came by this huge pile  and others reportedly found in her bank accounts?

    After Dr Jonathan’s reaction on his Facebook page, the official sources threatened to unveil more of the cesspool of corruption (or stealing, if you like) the PDP would have loved covered for ever.

    Can there be forgiveness without sincere contrition? Where is the place of justice in all this? Will a mere apology suffice for what some analysts have described as part of the greatest national heists of all time? Who and who have turned in their loot in exchange for no prosecution? Can those who betrayed our trust for 16 years, earning the sobriquet Papa Deceive Pickin be trusted again?

    Can the PDP ever truly apologise?

     

    The Police v Dino Melaye

    JUST one week after the police announced with remarkable glee that they had arrested three suspects who reportedly confessed that Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) armed them and gave them N430,000, the suspects have vanished into thin air. They escaped from custody, we were told yesterday.

    Police chief Ibrahim Idris removed the commissioner, Ali Janga, for negligence. Dino, who struts Abuja like any of our overfed lawmakers, has been declared wanted. He was at the National Assembly yesterday.

    What is going on in Kogi?

    Melaye is full of drama, thrilling the social media audience with videos in which he acts like a trainee comedian, pouring invectives on Governor Yahaya Bello, who is consumed by all manner of trivialities.

    He is more involved in its party’s politics  at the national level than in tackling matters that concern his state. Herdsmen and their cows are riding roughshod over farms that represent many decades of toil and sweat. Monarchs have not been  spared in the bloodletting that has seized the state. In Kogi, kidnappers have found a cozy home for their evil trade.

    For many of the state’s leading lights, it is politics first; all other things can follow later. Melaye, in particular, has been everything but a good ambassador of the state’s elite with his mendacious propaganda, part of the reason the Senate has been seen as a conclave of jokers who feed fat on our sweat.

    The drama in Kogi is getting more absurd by the day. The dramatis personae should spare a thought for the people and stop the nonsense. Today.

  • Polls sequence crisis: APC leaders, senators reach truce

    The All Progressive Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) and the party’s Senate Caucus ended a three-hour meeting yesterday saying they were close to a truce on the controversial election sequence crisis.

    Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan told reporters after the meeting that many issues tearing the party apart including the controversy over election sequence, were discussed.

    He said the party would soon constitute a caucus, comprising members of the executive, the legislature, governors and the party leadership, to resolve issues affecting the party.

    He said: “When you have everybody on the same page, you would have reduced misunderstanding to its barest level or eliminated it completely. There may be times when there will be disagreements. Such disagreements must not be allowed to become a clog in the wheel of progress.

    “The idea of bringing everybody to the table is to ensure that we are able to resolve any issues; issues at party, National Assembly and at the executive levels and with some of our governors. Should there be any issue, we should be able to discuss and dispense with it as quickly as possible.

    “The discussions centered around so many things, including the issue of election sequence. We are coming to a situation where that can be resolved. We are hoping that as soon as that caucus is constituted, this kind of issue will easily be addressed and resolved.

    “This is our government. This is our administration. We should not be fighting dirty in the public. If we have misunderstanding, we should be able to deal with it inside our house. It is not as if a political party will not have problems, what makes the difference is for the political party to manage such challenges that will arise from time to time. We are on top of the situation. We are going to resolve all our problems.”

    Lawan, who described the visit of the APC NWC to the Senate “as a father visiting his family, said the NWC requested for an interaction with the party’s Senate caucus to review events in the party and the country.

    He continued: “Senators took the opportunity to express problems bedeviling the party. The party will soon constitute a team that will comprise the Executive, Legislature, governors and the party itself. The meeting was worthwhile and the party was happy to be here this afternoon. It was a frank discussion.”

    National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun, who led other members of the NWC, said they were in the Senate to discuss issues that bound them together.

    Oyegun said they were in the Senate “to listen”. “It is good to discuss issues that have arisen in the polity. There is election in less than one year. There is an interest that binds us together. We are here to listen and to strategise ahead of the elections coming up in February, next year.”

  • Crisis hits Ekiti PDP as Fayose ‘orders sack’ of councillor, excos

    The crisis rocking Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over this year’s governorship race has deepened.

    Governor Ayodele Fayose has allegedly suspended some party chieftains believed to be loyal to former Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye.

    An elected councillor for Ido-Osi Ward, Abiodun Daramola, and the PDP chairman in the ward, Sunday Ojo, as well as seven ward women leaders in Ado-Ekiti were allegedly suspended on the orders of the governor.

    The latest action is causing tension in the party and is believed to be against the spirit and letter of the David Mark Reconciliation Panel on Ekiti PDP Crisis.

    Daramola told our reporter on phone yesterday that some policemen from Ido Police Station stormed the council secretariat with handcuffs to arrest him.

    According to him, the policemen said they were following the instruction of the governor not to allow him (Daramola) to sit at plenary with his colleagues in the council legislature.

    The councillor said he was saved from arrest because of the personal relationship he has with the policemen.

    He added that his fellow councillors told him that he was punished for being an “Adeyeye boy”.

    But the Prince Adedayo Adeyeye Movement (PAAM) declared the suspension of the party chairftins as “illegal, unconstitutional, null and void”.

    In a statement yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, PAAM’s Director of Media and Publicity, Niyi Ojo, described the suspension as “a huge joke by a shameless jester”.

    The statement reads: “One is embarrassed that a governor did not know the rudimentary provisions of Nigerian Constitution and the PDP constitution in respect of elected officials.

    “He unilaterally selected the chairmanship of the councils and councillors through YES and NO balloting system and he has gone ahead to render them robots that should not have the minds of their own.

    “He believes in gangsterism, thuggery, intimidation and coercion as a tool in politics of Ekiti, as if he is the Emperor of a conquered territory. This is a governor who has rendered every party man poor by denying them adequate party patronage, and he is now forcing them to do his bidding.

    “We are members of the PDP and not Ayo Fayose’s Democratic Party. All other loyal party men and women should not bow to this act of cowardice from the governor.

    “We knew all along that a leopard cannot change its spot. We knew that the tyrant will never abide with the resolutions of Senator David Mark Reconciliation Panel and we shall not chicken out from the battle to save the soul of the PDP from Fayose.”

    The State PDP Chairman, Gboyega Oguntuase said: “Whatever decision taken has not been communicated officially to the party. But we reserve the right to look into it.

    “We don’t want our people to be reading meanings to it. But such matters will be looked into dispassionately and nobody will be punished for an offence not committed.

    “But in a political party, you are not expected to lead an unregulated life.”

  • Oyo 2019: Can PDP survive its crisis?

    There is anxiety in the Oyo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The supporters of two chieftains, former Governor Rashidi Ladoja and Seyi Makinde, who are struggling for the control of the party, are locked in a battle of mutual suspicion and distrust. Ladoja has threatened to defect from the platform. Can the troubled chapter survive the crisis? BISI OLADELE examines the implications of the disunity on the party as it prepares for next year’s elections. 

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State is addicted to crises. As it is struggling to put behind it the Makarfi/Sheriff rift, the troubled chapter is being torn apart by the struggle between former Governor Rashidi Ladoja and a chieftain, Seyi Makinde, over the control of the party machinery.

    Ladoja and Makinde, an engineer like the former governor, recently returned to the party, following reconciliation with aggrieved stalwarts. Ladoja left the fold in 2011. Makinde left in 2015. Both are the main strong leaders of the party with mass appeal.

    While Ladoja dumped the PDP for the Accord Party, shortly before the 2011 general elections, Makinde left for the Social Democratic Party (SDP), shortly before the 2015 elections. Another chieftain, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, also dumped the party for the Labour Party (LP) in 2015 and later defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after failing to win the governorship election. He has not retraced his steps.

    While Akala rejected the offer to return late last year, the former PDP governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin, left for the APC. The development left Ladoja as the leader of the ‘new’ PDP in Oyo State. His leadership was based on his pedigree as a former PDP governor, senator and a chieftain with the highest number of followers in the party.

    But, the unfolding events show that the bloc led by Makinde has become a threat to Ladoja’s plan to be the party’s arrowhead. Following the breakdown of talks on the sharing of positions in the State Executive Committee, the two blocs held separate congresses in Ibadan, the state capital, on November 4, last year. Ladoja’s supporters held their congress at the Watershed Events Centre, Old Ife Road. Makinde’s held its  congress at Baptist Secondary School, Oke- Ado, Ibadan.

    In Makinde’s group  are Senator Hosea Agboola, former leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Mulikat Adeola-Akande, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi and Bose Adedibu. With Ladoja are Senators Ayo Adeseun and Olufemi Lanlehin, former Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Jumoke Akinjide, Senator Gbenga Babalola and Hon. Muraina Ajibola.

    The Makinde camp elected astute politician Chief Jacob Adetoro as State Chairman. Chief Kunmi Mustapha was elected Chairman by the Ladoja bloc. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials attended the factional congress held by Ladoja’s supporters. INEC shunned the congress held at Oke-Ado.The Public Relations Officer of the commission, Mr Ayodele Folami, said INEC did the right thing by attending the congress organised by the Ladoja faction, having monitored its activities from ward congresses.

    A former deputy governor, Gbolarunmi, who belongs to the Makinde faction,  said the crisis was borne out of Ladoja’s plot to produce all members of the State Executive Committee. It was learnt that only one slot was given to the Makinde faction by Ladoja in its original plan, which prompted the former to hold a parallel congress.

    To avert the danger of plunging the party into another intractable crisis, the national leadership released a harmonised list last month to placate the Makinde faction while retaining Ladoja as the leader, whose camp retains the highest number of key positions. But, the decision threw the former governor and his supporters off balance. They threatened to leave the party again. Ladoja viewed the sharing formula as another assault on internal democracy, saying that future decisions may be unilaterally taken against his interest.

    But, Makinde was happy, saying that it was a good bargain. It got 12 out of the 26 slots. Having got a good deal, all is well. But, to the Ladoja, the future is uncertain. The Makinde faction is particularly pleased that Ladoja will not contest as governor in next year’s   election as he has publicly promised.

    The harmonisation of the State Executive Committee has raised a dust that may not settle in time. It has aggravated the suspicion that the PDP, unlike the Accord Party, may not be another cosy home to the former governor and his supporters. Ladoja left the PDP in 2011 when it became obvious that he was no longer in charge, although he was still the governor. As the Accord Party leader, he called the shots. In fact, PDP leaders appealed to him to return becaue of his political strength. But, as things stand now in the party, Makinde and other chieftains have succeeded in slicing Ladoja’s powers. The balance of power will determine who picks the governorship ticket and other positions in the next year’s election. Although the former governor is yet to announce his next move, it is clear that he is reviewing the situation along with his supporters. Ladoja is planning to regain his full strength, ahead of the polls.

    Makinde, on the other hand, is basking in the euphoria of comparative advantage. His camp is likely to get majority of the slots. But, the faction cannot survive without Ladoja’s. If the camps can manage their differences, the party is likely to go far in the next elections. But, it appears that mutual suspicion and distrust will make them to work at cross purpose.  Already, Ladoja’s faction has called passed a vote of no confidence on the Southwest zonal chairman, Dr Eddy Olafeso. It accused him of colluding with others to frustrate Ladoja.

    Mustapha, the party chairman, said the decision became necessary because Olafeso, who could have intervened by finding out what was happening in the party, took the matter to the National Working Committee (NWC) in Abuja.

    He disclosed that the proposal to share the 26 state offices lacked the approval of the NWC and the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, adding that it was a secret agenda between Olafeso and others, which prompted the national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, to warn against tampering with Oyo PDP executive as currently constituted.

    The chairman admitted that the ambition of some peoppe to get the tickets for elections led to the crisis. He advised them to elevate the interest of the people of the state who desired a change above their personal interests.

    Mustapha said: “The day we shared the offices, we did not do so on the basis of factions, but among the five political parties that came together to form the new PDP, namely the old PDP, Accord, SDP, Labour Party and AD.

    “While the PDP got 13 offices, the Accord Party got only six, the SDP, three, the Labour Party, three, and the AD, one. Seyi Makinde can’t say he has not got any slot. He has three of the SWC members given to the SDP.

    “But, Secondus told us he would not be a party to anything that is illegal. We received a call from Abuja that I should see that I bring five people each from Ladoja’s faction and five from Seyi Makinde’s faction. To me personally, I see that as an insult.

    “We did the ward and local government congresses successfully and there was no faction and there was no rancour. We did not have any problem because the arrowheads of the five parties were appointed coordinators to handle the congresses in the wards and councils.

    “We formed a committee of 33 people. But Eddy Olafeso unilaterally increased the number to 47, until he was vetoed by the Senator Ahmed Markafi-led National Caretaker Committee (NWC).

    “Makinde himself conducted the congresses in Ibadan North East Local Government Area. Honourable Mulikat Akande-Adeola did the congresses in Ogbomosho North and South councils. Senator Hosea Agboola conducted those of Itesiwaju Local Government Area, while Chief Sharafadeen Alli handled Ibadan North Local Government Area.

    “People are yearning for a change in Oyo State and we feel our coming together will bring about the change. If all of us can’t come together, if Ladoja joins us we will win the election. But these people don’t want Ladoja from the onset and they are still on it.

    “All that is happening now is just to frustrate Ladoja out of the PDP. But they will not succeed by the grace of God.

    “We have told the national headquarters to leave us alone. We will deliver the state. I am exonerating the national chairman, Secondus. But it is the legacy of Markafi that others are trying to destroy.

    “We worked hard to bring Ladoja to PDP unsuccessfully. But, it was during Markafi that this was achieved. We know Ladoja has the masses on Oyo State behind him and politics is a game of number. They don’t want Ladoja, but we want him to be the rallying point for Oyo PDP.”

    The list ceded 14 slots to Ladoja’s faction while 12 went to Makinde’s faction. The positions of State Chairman, Women Leader, Publicity Secretary, Legal Adviser, First and Second Vice Chairmen went to Ladoja while the position of State Secretary and other positions went to Makinde.

    Makinde said he  has a lot of respect for Ladoja, pointing out that,  if he had his way, he would avoid any disharmony over the harmonisation.

    A chieftain, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said called for unity, saying that crisis will tear the party apart. He added:  “As pragmatists, what party leaders must do is to dig deep into the recess of unity and look at the bigger picture. Will our people forgive us if we commit another horror mistake and allow the APC to continue its punishment of our people through misgovernance and misplaced priorities that have left the most susceptible masses at the hand of poverty?

    “We cannot clap with one hand and we must focus on the larger objective instead of allowing ourselves to be weakened by internal crisis.

    “As a major stakeholder, I have volunteered myself to ensure that I do all in my power to achieve what we failed to achieve in 2015 and I am convinced that it is God’s own project.”

     

  • Elections sequence crisis: Any end in sight?

    Elections sequence crisis: Any end in sight?

    The controversy over the sequence of elections has been on the front-burner since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the timetable for the 2019 general elections. ONYEDI OJIABOR reports that the dust kicked up by the reordering of the timetable by the National Assembly will take some time to settle.

    The crisis of election sequence tearing the political class apart may not be unexpected.

    The discordant voices trailing the amendment of the Electoral Act which engendered the crisis of confidence in the polity is also not new.

    What may be new is whether the controversial amendment that altered the order of elections will stay or not.

    Observers say the amendment is, no doubt, one alteration of the Electoral Act that is bound to change the course of elections in the country, whichever way it goes.

    It all started with the adoption of the conference report of the two chambers of the National Assembly which gave nod to change established election sequence in the country.

    The amendment placed the National Assembly election first, followed by governorship and House of Assembly election. The presidential poll, which hitherto was first, was placed last in the order of elections.

    The new order adopted by the Eighth National Assembly was first proposed by the Fourth National Assembly in the 2002 Electoral Bill.

    It was later amended by merging the presidential and National Assembly elections.

    The National Assembly conference committee on Electoral Act (amendment) Bill which met in Abuja insisted that the reordered sequence, which places the presidential election last, is the best for the country.

    In its amendments to the 2010 Electoral Act, the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Act (amendment) Bill had included Section 25(1) into the Act by reordering the sequence of the elections to start with the National Assembly, followed by governorship and state assembly election before the presidential election.

    INEC fixed presidential and National Assembly elections for Saturday, February 16, 2019 and governorship and State Assembly elections on Saturday, March 2, 2019.

    The National Assembly, however, changed the arrangement, demanding that the National Assembly elections come first and the presidential poll last.

    Adopting the reordered sequence as contained in the House of Representatives version of the amended Electoral Act, the Chairman of the joint committee, Senator Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi North), put it to a voice vote.

    The 12-member committee unanimously answered in the affirmative to pave the way for the report to be presented to the two chambers for final ratification.

    Apparently fearing a backlash, Senator Nazif promptly declared that the bill did not in any way violate any provisions of Section 76 of the 1999 Constitution which empowered INEC to fix dates and conduct elections.

    To him, the provisions that empowered INEC to fix dates and to conduct elections were duplicated in the bill, just as the power that confers on the National Assembly by Section 4, sub-Section 2 of the Constitution were exercised in relation to rescheduling of elections.

    Nazif said: “For the avoidance of doubt, this bill with the inclusion of Section 25(1) which makes provision for sequence of election different from the one earlier rolled out by INEC has not in any way violated any provisions of the laws governing the operations of the electoral body.”

    Chairman, House Committee on INEC, Edward Pwajok, on his own said what the House did and concurred to by the Senate was very necessary in giving credibility to the electoral process in the country.

    Pwajok said: “The sequence of election provision in the bill is not targeted at anybody but aimed at further giving credibility to the electoral process by way of giving the electorate the opportunity to vote based on individual qualities of candidates vying for National Assembly seat.

    “On whether it would be assented to or not by the President, as far as we are concerned, remains in the realm of conjuncture for now but if such eventually happens, we will know how to cross the bridge.”

    Other members of the committee include; Senator Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central), Gilbert Nnaji (Enugu East), Abiodun Olujimi (Ekiti South), Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North).

    Before the adoption, Senate President Bukola Saraki told his colleagues to remember that they would not be senators forever.

    He said: “We will come and go, but the institution will stay. We need to come up with laws that will build strong institutions.

    “Let us not be personal about this. Let us behave like statesmen. We have procedures on some of these things. There are many bills we have passed. If there are issues, there are mechanisms we can use to resolve them.’’

     

    But as events unfolded, those who thought the amendment was a done deal when the conference report was adopted may have to think again as its adoption unsettled the upper chamber.

    The acrimony, bickering and internal strife could not be contained even at a closed session of the chamber.

    Ten members of the chamber, led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu, stormed out of the chamber to open what appeared a Pandora’s Box of crisis.

    The 10 senators left nobody in doubt about their opposition to the amendment. At a news conference, they vowed that the amendment would not stand.

    To them, the alteration was targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral success in 2019.

    The other senators in Adamu’s camp are: Ovie Omo-Agege, Abu Ibrahim, Benjamin Uwajumogu, Ali Wakil, Abdullahi Gumel, Binta Masi Garba, Yahaya Abdullahi, Andrew Uchendu and Umaru Kurfi.

    Omo-Agege went further to say that the dissenters who were ready to do battle to restore the old order were actually 59.

    The Delta Central senator was so sure of the number of those opposed to the amendment that he asked those who may be in doubt to take the figure to “bank.”

    Not to be out-played in its own game, the leadership of the senate has not folded its hands. The leadership appears set to weather the storm even if it means whipping dissenters into line.

    Those tagged “senate undertakers” positioned in various key committees, are also said to be waiting on the wings to do in “recalcitrant and intractable” senators.

    The recommendation of dissenting senators for investigation, observers say, has given the inclination that there might be more to the amendment than meets the eye.

    Senator Omo-Agege has not only been recommended to face the Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions committee for allegedly over shooting his bound.

    Before Omo-Agege could face what has been described as “foreclosed investigation”, the election sequence crisis has already consumed its first casualty.

    Senator Adamu, a former Nasarawa State governor, perceived as the ring leader of the “rebels in the chamber”, has been hit in a hard way.

    Not only has Adamu, a ranking senator, been unceremoniously sacked as the chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum, the Nasarawa West Senator was accused of mismanaging N70 million belonging to the forum.

    The sack of Adamu and the recommendation of Omo-Agege to face investigation, some say, is just the precursor of what is to come.

    Relying on a letter said to have been endorsed by 49 members of the forum, counter-signed by Senator Dino Melaye, the forum’s spokesman, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu announced Adamu’s removal as chairman of the forum for alleged “financial mismanagement and misadministration.”

    Adamu, a third-time senator and an ally of President Buhari in the Senate, was replaced by Senator Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto North).

    A letter addressed to the “The President of the Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria,” detailed reasons for Adamu’s removal.

    Entitled: “Announcement of removal of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as chairman, Northern Senators’ Forum” the removal read in part: “This is to inform the Senate that the majority signatories of members of the Northern Senators Forum; we have removed Senator Abdullahi Adamu as chairman of the Northern Senators Forum for financial mismanagement and misadministration.

    “We announce his replacement with Senator Aliyu Wamakko immediately. Find the attached names and signatories of members.”

    Melaye signed the letter on behalf of the Northern Senators Forum.”

    At a news conference by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media & Public Affairs, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, accompanied by senators Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central) and Isah Hamman Misau (Bauchi Central), the drama of Adamu’s removal further played out.

    A comical vent was added to allegation as if the alleged mismanagement of N70 million was not troubling enough.

    Asked to explain the meaning of “financial mismanagement and misadministration” levelled against Adamu, Sani took the stage to throw more light on the allegation.

    The Kaduna Central lawmaker said: “Abdullahi Adamu is a distinguished senator and an elder statesman. There are some things that some of my colleagues cannot say but I’m not used to holding back what is the truth.

    “When we resumed as senators, when we assumed office, Senator Ahmed Lawan (Senate Leader) tendered the sum of N70 million to the Eighth Senate that is, N70 million was monies gathered by Northern Senators from the Seventh Senate. So, it was handed over to the Senators from Northern Nigeria under the Eighth Senate.

    “The rumours going round whether it is true, but I believe most of the senators know is the fact, there were allegations that some monkeys raided the farm house of some of the executives in Northern Senators Forum and carted away some of these monies.

    “I think this country is becoming a huge joke, first of all, it was the rodent that drove away the President; we now have snakes consuming about N36 million; and now, you have monkeys carting away N70 million from a farm house.”

    Apparently to mitigate already bad situation, Sani underscored the need for Adamu to speak on the issue, saying: “I support that it is very important that the distinguished senator who is a respected elder statesman, should be around to protect and defend his integrity.”

    Melaye said: “All I will just say is simple; that the decision of the majority of the Northern Senators’ Forum is that they want to have a change of leadership.

    “The allegations investigated and found out to be true are that there was financial mismanagement; that monies were spent without the consent of members and members of the Executive were not contacted; and that the organisation is becoming moribund and ineffective.

    “We are not doing the things that we are supposed to do and we need to inject some vibrancy into the organisation, and that many positions have been taken without consulting with the Exco and other members of the organisation.”

    Initial efforts to get Adamu’s side of the story were unsuccessful.

    He was said to have insisted that the time was not ripe for him to speak on the issue.

    Those in Adamu’s camp were not amused by the development.

    “The attack on Adamu is just the beginning. Information available to some of us is that all those who participated in the walkout to address the press on the amendment of the Electoral Act may not escape sanction one way or the other. Recall that Omo-Agege has been referred to the Ethics committee for investigation. His apology may not save him”, one of them declared.

    But the former governor broke his silence yesterday while addressing thousands of All Progressives Congress (APC) members and leaders from all wards in Nasarawa State who paid him a solidarity visit.

    He urged aggrieved APC National Assembly members to quit the ruling party instead of plotting against President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Adamu, who spoke in Keffi, berated APC senators and representatives for allegedly sitting on the fence in order to sabotage Buhari.

    According to him, such lawmakers “are cutting the umbilical cord between them and their party.

    Senator Ali Wakil, however could not hold back his frustration over the treatment meted to Adamu. The Bauchi State senator told the Senate in plenary that at no time did the northern senators’ forum met to resolve to sanction any of its leaders.

    Wakil said told his colleagues that neither the forum’s secretary, Senator Barau Jibrin nor Melaye called for a meeting where disciplinary issues were discussed. Wakil came short of declaring the sack of Adamu null and void but ended up asking the presiding officer to take a judicial notice of what he said.

    On the recommendation of Omo-Agege to face disciplinary committee, Melaye cited Order 14 of the Senate Standing Rules and prayed the chamber to refer Omo-Agege’s submission that President Buhari was that target of the amendment to the Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions committee to investigate the claim.

    Melaye said: “I am heavily worried. President Muhammadu Buhari is not only my party man. He is a president we all laboured to vote for. My colleague, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege addressed the media last week. He said the decision taken by this Senate is targeted at President Buhari.

    “I cannot be part of any group of persons to move against the President. The allegations are weighty. I followed President Buhari to 35 states of the Federation during the campaigns.

    “When I was following the President round the country, Omo-Agege was in the Labour Party. To now alleged and put the integrity of the Senate under check that the amendment was tailored towards the President is unheard of. It is in bad taste.

    “I want to ask that this statement made by Omo-Agege, among other statements, be investigated by the committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions. They need to find out if our actions were targeted at the President. Another interview was granted by the same senator.”

    Subjecting the prayer to a voice vote, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the session, said: “Melaye came under Order 14, is it the wish of the Senate that the issue be referred to the Ethics committee for investigation.”

    What followed was a near unanimous ‘aye.”

    In March 2017, Melaye raised a Point of Order against Mohammed Ali Ndume over alleged unsubstantiated claimed on the purchase of exotic car for the Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki and alleged certificate forgery by him (Melaye)

    Ndume was hurriedly investigated and eventually suspended for six months. It is not clear whether the Borno South lawmaker has fully recovered from the effect suspension.

    The implication of referring Omo-Agege’s comments to the Ethics Committee is to establish Omo-Agege’s claim.

    It may also be instructive to ask why Omo-Agege was singled out to face the committee especially when he is not the arrowhead of the group.

    However the Senator representing Katsina South, Abu Ibrahim, insisted that the amendment of the Electoral Act remained illegal, a waste of time and resources by the National Assembly.

    Ibrahim recalled that an attempt to reorder the sequence of 2019 elections which INEC has already decided cannot stand.

    He explained that by virtue of Section 75, 118, and item 15(a) of the 3rd schedule of the 1999 constitution, INEC is the only organ vested with powers to regulate, conduct, supervise, direct, organise and fix dates for elections in the offices of the President and his vice, governors and his deputy as well as the National and state assemblies.

    Ibrahim who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, believes that “the purported amendment Act is purely an encroachment on the powers granted to INEC by the 1999 constitution more especially as INEC has already taken its decision on the same issues.”

    He went on: “In the haste to carry out their self-serving interest amendment on the matter, they have ignored those constitutional provision and previous court judgement by the Federal High Court and Federal Appeal Court on the same issues in 2002.

    “Specifically, an Act of National Assembly passed in the House of Representative and which was concurred by the Senate on 26/2/2002, was transmitted to the President on 24/6/2002 but was eventually refused assent by the then President Olusengun Obasanjo.”

    “However, on 26/9/2002, the House of Representative and Senate respectively, through a motion of veto, override the purportedly passed Act because 30 days had elapsed without the assent of the president to the bill.

    “INEC was aggrieved by that development and went to Federal Court in Abuja seeking declaration whether National Assembly can enact electoral Act on matters which INEC has adequate constitutional provisions to deal with such issues.

    “In its judgement, the Federal High Court held that the National Assembly Act passed by the two Houses but which was not assented to by the President was unconstitutional and illegal because it was an encroachment on the power vested in INEC by the 1999 constitution.

    “National Assembly not satisfied with the Federal High Court Judgment, went to Federal Appeal Court for further determination in its ruling on 29/11/2002 delivered by Justice George Adesola Oguntade, supported by two other Judges upheld the decision of the lower High Court and declared that the Electoral Act of 2002 encroached in the power vested on INEC by the 1999 Constitution.

    “Since the 2002 judgement has not yet been set aside by any superior court, the Federal High Court decision on the matter still subsists,” Ibrahim said.

    In his view, “unless and until it is set aside by a superior court order, any attempt to usurp the power of INEC on matters of elections is a waste of time and resources which the President will not honour with his assent.”

    The puzzles that must be unraveled are: why has it suddenly become imperative for the National Assembly to tinker with the sequence of elections? In whose interest is the reordering? Is the amendment actually targeted at President Buhari?

     

  • Bauchi APC crisis deepens

    Bauchi APC crisis deepens

    The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi State has deepened.

    Chairman of the party in Ganjuwa Local Government Area, Yakubu Kafin Galadima, was been removed for alleged fraud.

    Galadima’s removal was announced by the council secretary, Mohammed Nasiru, in Kafin-Madaki, at a news conference.

    He said: “The former chairman has been informed of his removal from office through a February 26 letter.

    “The former chairman was removed from office because he committed offences which are contrary to Articles 22 and 23 of the party’s constitution.

    “Galadima was given ample opportunities to defend himself of the allegations against him, but he either refused or neglected such opportunities, and we have no choice but to do the right thing.

    “Besides, the party and executive members had long ago passed a vote-of-no-confidence in him, and that is why he was removed.”