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Tag: defection

  • ‘Defection will not affect APC’

    Osun State Governor  Rauf Aregbesola has said the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration is committed and united, regardless of the defections from the party.

    He said he and members of his  party are not deterred by the defection of some members to opposition parties, ahead of the September 22 governorship election.

    Aregbesola said the gale of defections will not affect the party’s victory, adding that APC is strong on account of its wide acceptance by the people.

    He expressed confidence in the ability of the ruling party to be victorious, noting that defectors have lost sight of  reality.

    Aregbesola made the statement  in Ilawo, Ejigbo Local Government while addressing APC loyalists at a special Sallah celebration organised by the Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam.

    He said APC is working hard to sustain the tempo of continuity which, according to him, could only set the state on the pedestal of  development.

    Aregbesola, who described the APC as the only political party that can turn around the socioeconomic fortunes of the state and Nigeria for better, urged the electorate to vote for the party in all elections.

    While applauding the party loyalists for their resilience, doggedness and forthrightness in the thin and thick, particularly before, during and after the party’s governorship primary, Governor Aregbesola enjoined the party faithful to remain optimistic in the ability of the party to take the state to enviable height.

    Aregbesola commended the Speaker, Najeem Salam, for always abiding by the party’s decisions.

    He described Salam as a pillar of support to APC in the state and beyond, noting that his position has been diligently used to effect positivity in the party and for its loyalists.

    He said: “This defection has made us to know those that are genuinely with us and those that are not with us.?

    “We have known friends, enemies and cunning individuals among us by this defection but we are not afraid of their antics as we remain united, strong and committed.

    “We are confident of victory. We know God is on our side and we believe in Him, we believe He will lead us to victory”, Aregbesola added.

    The chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Gboyega Famodun, thanked members for their commitment to the advancement of the party.

    He enjoined party loyalists to remain committed, noting that the party has a better chance to win the governorship election.

     

  • Osun APC chieftain resigns, defects to PDP

    Mr Peter Babalola, the Chairman of Osun Local Government Service Commission, has resigned his appointment and defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Babalola, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a letter to Gov. Rauf Aregbesola, said he resigned to pursue other endeavours.

    The News Agency of Nigeria  reports that Babalola was one of the 17 APC aspirants in the July 19 governorship primary in which Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola emerged the winner.

    Babalola, who was received by the South West PDP Deputy Chairman, Mr Yomi Akinwonmi, and the State Chairman, Mr Soji Adagunodo, at the party secretariat on Friday in Osogbo, said he left the APC because of imposition and impunity.

    He expressed the belief that the next governor ought to come from Osun West.

    Babalola promised to work with the PDP in order to ensure victory for its candidate in the Sept. 22 governorship election.

    In his remarks, Akinwonmi, who represented the National Chairman of the party, Mr Uche Secondus, said that Babalola took the right step by leaving APC.

    He urged PDP members in APC to return to the party, saying equal rights and privileges would be given to them.

    Also speaking, Adagunodo said that the party recently received more than 5,000 APC members in Ila Local Government Area of the state.

    But the APC Publicity Secretary in Osun, Mr Kunle Oyatomi, said Babalola’s defection was a personal choice based on the agitation that Osun West should be given a chance for the governorship slot.

    He, however, wished Babalola well in his political career, adding that the party still remains strong in his absence.

  • 2019: Edo APC battling with defection

    Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) has been hit by a gale of defections. Correspondent OSAGIE OTABOR examines the challenge of reconciliation in the chapter.

    There is an uneasy calm in the ruling All Progressives Congress in Edo State. The party leadership has been rattled by the gale of defections that has hit the party in the last two weeks. Many party leaders who have grudges with Governor Godwin Obaseki’s style of governance and lack of political patronage are gradually leaving the APC. There are fears that the defection may cause implosion in Edo APC.

    Besides, aggrieved APC chieftains and some political appointees, especially commissioners, are also not happy with Obaseki. To many of them, they are just overseeing ministries while Special Advisers are given more privileges and recognition.

    During last year’s celebration of Obaseki’s one year anniversary, APC members openly demanded for stomach infrastructure. In fact, many of them walked away when Obaseki mounted the podium to speak.

    Obaseki had made a bold statement when he came to power that he would separate politics from governance. He told APC leaders that the Government House was not a bank and a place to discuss or settle party matters. He also barred politicians from entering Government House without invitation. One of the reasons the former Deputy Woman of the APC, Mrs. Tina Agbarha, gave for defecting to the PDP was that she cannot see the Governor.

    Those that have defected included Chief Osamede Adun, popularly known as Bob Izua, a former member of the House of Representatives, Harrison Omagbon and his wife, Lucy and immediate past Chairman of Ovia Northeast Local Government Area.

    The defectors who are members of the Edo Kwankwasiyan Movement did not wait for the reconciliation proposed by former Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Omagbon however, said  Oshiomhole tried to reconcile aggrieved members, but that things became worst as hard as Oshiomhole tried.

    The former council boss said some persons were bent on destroying the APC, which was why she returned to her former party.

    She said: “I don’t have anything against the person of Adams Oshiomhole. It has happened. He has so many issues to concern himself with. He has tried to do his best in reconciling every one in Edo. The more he tries, but the moment he leaves, the worst it becomes.

    “Self respect matters a lot in politics. We got to the APC but we discovered that what we were subjected to was unimaginable.

    “We were marginalised and did not know what was happening in the scheme of things. We did not know what was happening in various wards and local government. I didn’t have answers to my people on what was happening.”

    In June, a chieftain of the APC in Uhunmwode and former Political Adviser to Oshiomhole, Mr. Charles Idahosa, made the first move by announcing his suspension of further participation in APC activities. Idahosa in a statement he said, he was not dumping the APC, but take a break “in order to carry out a deeper surgical analysis from a detached point of view”.

    Idahosa noted that the facts that informed the actions of the Edo APC in recent times were strange to him and that he had struggled to come to terms with those facts and the consequential actions of the party.

    He said: “Given the present state of affairs, I have decided to suspend active political partisan participation in the state. I believe the period will afford me the opportunity to seek an enlightened perspective of the issues, consult widely for clarifications where need be and take more informed position on the politics of Edo state.

    “For every decision, there are consequences and possibilities. Yet, when a dog begins to bark at its owner, the dog owner should strut around in caution. That is the sobering epiphany of the present time.”

    Idahosa later rescinded his decision after intervention by Oshiomhole. In a chat with reporters in Bénin City, the state capital, last week Idahosa, who begged aggrieved APC members not to defect, said the APC needed to work towards winning next year’s election now that Oshiomhole is the national chairman of the party.

    Idahosa said it was a shame that people are defecting from the APC when President Mohammadu Buhari is performing, adding that the solution to political problems is not defection, but reconciliation for future victory.

    He said: “Nobody should start threatening that we want to leave because we have a lot of work to do, considering the fact that the President of this country, Muhammadu Buhari, is doing very well.

    “Whether kings are dying or queens are mourning, Buhari is coming back as president of this country come 2019. Our son, Adams Oshiomhole, is the national chairman. What shame will it be, if he succeeds in doing all the job in 36 states of the federation and Edo State is in disarray?

    “You cannot leave this party for anybody because it is not their property when we voted. Did you see anybody’s name in the ballot paper? There is no Independent candidature here. All these things we are seeing is temporary and not enough to destroy the party.

    Idahosa added: “I have heard all kinds of rumours that Charles Idahosa wants to leave the party. Who am I going to leave the party for when I am a founding member of this party? That we disagree does not necessary decamping and all the rest of them. This party is not owned by anybody. Nobody is bigger than the party, the party is owned by the members and the leadership.

    “Those in government, those running the party from the secretariat are not the owners of this party and I want our people to know that the party belong to us. Those of us who started this party way back in 2004 as AD, AC, ACN, we knew what we went through to get here so we are not going to fold our arms and allow the behaviour of a few individuals to bring down the party and rubbish all the successes we have achieved over the years.”

    The lawmaker representing Ikpoba-Okha/Egor in the House of Representatives, Hon Ehiozuwa Agbonnayima who also appealed to the aggrieved leaders not to defect, said the time of harvest is already near.

    Agbonnayima said the Edo APC has been infiltrated by some members of PDP who are causing trouble.

    His words: “There are also some genuine APC members who are aggrieved. It is a matter of time.

    “We have to let our members know that they have to be patience. The governor is working and a lot of opportunities will come. They should not leave now that harvest time is here. They have worked and sweated for the party and the food has matured.

    “There are many job opportunities available; a lot of contracts to be awarded. The Governor has said they should wait. Oshiomhole as the National Chairman will create opportunity for Edo people.

    “There are a lot of opportunities, especially the space filled by PDP members. APC is in government, but PDP is the one ruling. That is why they are derailing the will of progress of Mr. President. They are still doing the PDP agenda. That agenda is to pocket the money to the detriment of all Nigerians. I am appealing to them to be patient.”

    The grouse of the aggrieved APC leaders, according to sources, include alleged abandonment by Obaseki, hijacking of the party structures in their locality, non-constitution board members in ministries and MDAs, non-payment for jobs done for previous administrations and giving jobs to people who do not pay taxes in the state.

    Last month, a former revenue agent to the government, Mr. Tony Kabaka, led hundreds of APC youths to speak out against Obaseki and warned him not to allow the APC loose future elections in the state because of his style of governance and policies.

    Kabaka said that no neglected party members would want to work for the APC.

    He added: “Everything that the Oba of Bénin told Obaseki to do by creating jobs through good agricultural policies and neighborhood watch.

    “Oshiomhole will only threaten to jail you but, under Obaseki, many APC leaders have been sent to prison before questions are asked.

    “What happened in Ekiti should be an example to Obaseki. All the jobs in the state have no local contents. They are given to foreigners. If Odubu were governor, we would not have received these insults.”

    A chieftain of the APC, who pleaded anonymity, described the gang up against Obaseki as a terrible situation. He said it is difficult to access the governor or demand for payment for the jobs they have done.

    According to him, “Our politics is leadership driven. These leaders Obaseki is ignoring have followers. They depend on politics to survive. How do they go to their communities to ask people to vote for the APC. A lot of them are regretting not voting in Odubu or Ogiemwonyi.”

    Obaseki’s supporters however, said those aggrieved are change. They said the old order of Adams Oshiomhole era cannot work in present day realities.

    A top government official, who asked not to be named, said Obaseki is unperturbed by the rantings of the aggrieved APC members. He explained that Oshiomhole adopted a style now being used to measure  Obaseki because of the need to dismantle the opposition.

    The official noted that, if Oshiomhole had not succeeded in dismantling the opposition, Obaseki would not have been enjoying the present political environment.

    State Secretary of the APC secretary, Lawrence Okah, said the party machinery would sort the issues out, but warned that it would not be business as usual.

    He said: “To correct things is not easy. Some people are not used to change. We will sort it out. We are working on reconciliation and harmonisation.

    “It is difficult for people to embrace change. When there is a change in the system, people will find it a problem to enbrace that. We cannot continue with the way things were done in the past because it cannot take us anywhere. A situation where somebody will sit down somewhere and be expecting largesse without working. Enabling environment has been created and is still being created.

    The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Jimoh Ijegbai, said a situation where somebody thinks himself a grand commander of some youths and therefore will get free money is gone and gone forever.

    “Look at the industrial park and the estate we are building, people are going to work there. Last year, we decided to use technology to drive collection of revenue. We have crossed the N200m mark monthly from N30m. These are monies some persons think  it was their right to collect.”

    “They collect and don’t remit to government. You don’t expect that you will not face challenges. The main thing is for people to key into the change agenda and leverage on whatever they are going to do. If you look at the party situation, those who belong to political parties are small fragment of the entire society. The people are appreciative of what Obaseki is doing.”

    Special Adviser to Governor Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said what Governor Obaseki is doing is for the benefit of Edo man and that Edo people are happy that law and order has been entrenched.

    According to him, “Obaseki administration is for the ordinary Edo people who do not know the way to Government House. Obaskei is here for the common man. Obaseki will not negotiate the well being of the common Edo people.

    “The people who went to prison were prosecuted according to the Laws of the land. If you run foul of the law, it does not matter who you are, the laws must catch up with you. All those who ran foul of the law must be brought to book no matter whether you are in APC or PDP. The primary aim of Obaseki is to entrench law and order. There must be law and order for the society to grow

    “In good political climes, empowerment is not harassing people to collect money. If you have a trade or a skill, there is opportunity for you in this government. We employed people in innovation hub, civil service, public works department. Youths are being empowered. The question is do you have any value to offer? Days are gone when money was being thrown around for no value offered. The Governor has helped by establishing relationships with people that will create jobs. Empowerment does not mean going into government to give out government treasury.”

    End

     

  • 2019: Edo APC battling with defection

    Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) has been hit by a gale of defections. Correspondent OSAGIE OTABOR examines the challenge of reconciliation in the chapter.

    There is an uneasy calm in the ruling All Progressives Congress in Edo State. The party leadership has been rattled by the gale of defections that has hit the party in the last two weeks. Many party leaders who have grudges with Governor Godwin Obaseki’s style of governance and lack of political patronage are gradually leaving the APC. There are fears that the defection may cause implosion in Edo APC.

    Besides, aggrieved APC chieftains and some political appointees, especially commissioners, are also not happy with Obaseki. To many of them, they are just overseeing ministries while Special Advisers are given more privileges and recognition.

    During last year’s celebration of Obaseki’s one year anniversary, APC members openly demanded for stomach infrastructure. In fact, many of them walked away when Obaseki mounted the podium to speak.

    Obaseki had made a bold statement when he came to power that he would separate politics from governance. He told APC leaders that the Government House was not a bank and a place to discuss or settle party matters. He also barred politicians from entering Government House without invitation. One of the reasons the former Deputy Woman of the APC, Mrs. Tina Agbarha, gave for defecting to the PDP was that she cannot see the Governor.

    Those that have defected included Chief Osamede Adun, popularly known as Bob Izua, a former member of the House of Representatives, Harrison Omagbon and his wife, Lucy and immediate past Chairman of Ovia Northeast Local Government Area.

    The defectors who are members of the Edo Kwankwasiyan Movement did not wait for the reconciliation proposed by former Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Omagbon however, said  Oshiomhole tried to reconcile aggrieved members, but that things became worst as hard as Oshiomhole tried.

    The former council boss said some persons were bent on destroying the APC, which was why she returned to her former party.

    She said: “I don’t have anything against the person of Adams Oshiomhole. It has happened. He has so many issues to concern himself with. He has tried to do his best in reconciling every one in Edo. The more he tries, but the moment he leaves, the worst it becomes.

    “Self respect matters a lot in politics. We got to the APC but we discovered that what we were subjected to was unimaginable.

    “We were marginalised and did not know what was happening in the scheme of things. We did not know what was happening in various wards and local government. I didn’t have answers to my people on what was happening.”

    In June, a chieftain of the APC in Uhunmwode and former Political Adviser to Oshiomhole, Mr. Charles Idahosa, made the first move by announcing his suspension of further participation in APC activities. Idahosa in a statement he said, he was not dumping the APC, but take a break “in order to carry out a deeper surgical analysis from a detached point of view”.

    Idahosa noted that the facts that informed the actions of the Edo APC in recent times were strange to him and that he had struggled to come to terms with those facts and the consequential actions of the party.

    He said: “Given the present state of affairs, I have decided to suspend active political partisan participation in the state. I believe the period will afford me the opportunity to seek an enlightened perspective of the issues, consult widely for clarifications where need be and take more informed position on the politics of Edo state.

    “For every decision, there are consequences and possibilities. Yet, when a dog begins to bark at its owner, the dog owner should strut around in caution. That is the sobering epiphany of the present time.”

    Idahosa later rescinded his decision after intervention by Oshiomhole. In a chat with reporters in Bénin City, the state capital, last week Idahosa, who begged aggrieved APC members not to defect, said the APC needed to work towards winning next year’s election now that Oshiomhole is the national chairman of the party.

    Idahosa said it was a shame that people are defecting from the APC when President Mohammadu Buhari is performing, adding that the solution to political problems is not defection, but reconciliation for future victory.

    He said: “Nobody should start threatening that we want to leave because we have a lot of work to do, considering the fact that the President of this country, Muhammadu Buhari, is doing very well.

    “Whether kings are dying or queens are mourning, Buhari is coming back as president of this country come 2019. Our son, Adams Oshiomhole, is the national chairman. What shame will it be, if he succeeds in doing all the job in 36 states of the federation and Edo State is in disarray?

    “You cannot leave this party for anybody because it is not their property when we voted. Did you see anybody’s name in the ballot paper? There is no Independent candidature here. All these things we are seeing is temporary and not enough to destroy the party.

    Idahosa added: “I have heard all kinds of rumours that Charles Idahosa wants to leave the party. Who am I going to leave the party for when I am a founding member of this party? That we disagree does not necessary decamping and all the rest of them. This party is not owned by anybody. Nobody is bigger than the party, the party is owned by the members and the leadership.

    “Those in government, those running the party from the secretariat are not the owners of this party and I want our people to know that the party belong to us. Those of us who started this party way back in 2004 as AD, AC, ACN, we knew what we went through to get here so we are not going to fold our arms and allow the behaviour of a few individuals to bring down the party and rubbish all the successes we have achieved over the years.”

    The lawmaker representing Ikpoba-Okha/Egor in the House of Representatives, Hon Ehiozuwa Agbonnayima who also appealed to the aggrieved leaders not to defect, said the time of harvest is already near.

    Agbonnayima said the Edo APC has been infiltrated by some members of PDP who are causing trouble.

    His words: “There are also some genuine APC members who are aggrieved. It is a matter of time.

    “We have to let our members know that they have to be patience. The governor is working and a lot of opportunities will come. They should not leave now that harvest time is here. They have worked and sweated for the party and the food has matured.

    “There are many job opportunities available; a lot of contracts to be awarded. The Governor has said they should wait. Oshiomhole as the National Chairman will create opportunity for Edo people.

    “There are a lot of opportunities, especially the space filled by PDP members. APC is in government, but PDP is the one ruling. That is why they are derailing the will of progress of Mr. President. They are still doing the PDP agenda. That agenda is to pocket the money to the detriment of all Nigerians. I am appealing to them to be patient.”

    The grouse of the aggrieved APC leaders, according to sources, include alleged abandonment by Obaseki, hijacking of the party structures in their locality, non-constitution board members in ministries and MDAs, non-payment for jobs done for previous administrations and giving jobs to people who do not pay taxes in the state.

    Last month, a former revenue agent to the government, Mr. Tony Kabaka, led hundreds of APC youths to speak out against Obaseki and warned him not to allow the APC loose future elections in the state because of his style of governance and policies.

    Kabaka said that no neglected party members would want to work for the APC.

    He added: “Everything that the Oba of Bénin told Obaseki to do by creating jobs through good agricultural policies and neighborhood watch.

    “Oshiomhole will only threaten to jail you but, under Obaseki, many APC leaders have been sent to prison before questions are asked.

    “What happened in Ekiti should be an example to Obaseki. All the jobs in the state have no local contents. They are given to foreigners. If Odubu were governor, we would not have received these insults.”

    A chieftain of the APC, who pleaded anonymity, described the gang up against Obaseki as a terrible situation. He said it is difficult to access the governor or demand for payment for the jobs they have done.

    According to him, “Our politics is leadership driven. These leaders Obaseki is ignoring have followers. They depend on politics to survive. How do they go to their communities to ask people to vote for the APC. A lot of them are regretting not voting in Odubu or Ogiemwonyi.”

    Obaseki’s supporters however, said those aggrieved are change. They said the old order of Adams Oshiomhole era cannot work in present day realities.

    A top government official, who asked not to be named, said Obaseki is unperturbed by the rantings of the aggrieved APC members. He explained that Oshiomhole adopted a style now being used to measure  Obaseki because of the need to dismantle the opposition.

    The official noted that, if Oshiomhole had not succeeded in dismantling the opposition, Obaseki would not have been enjoying the present political environment.

    State Secretary of the APC secretary, Lawrence Okah, said the party machinery would sort the issues out, but warned that it would not be business as usual.

    He said: “To correct things is not easy. Some people are not used to change. We will sort it out. We are working on reconciliation and harmonisation.

    “It is difficult for people to embrace change. When there is a change in the system, people will find it a problem to enbrace that. We cannot continue with the way things were done in the past because it cannot take us anywhere. A situation where somebody will sit down somewhere and be expecting largesse without working. Enabling environment has been created and is still being created.

    The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Jimoh Ijegbai, said a situation where somebody thinks himself a grand commander of some youths and therefore will get free money is gone and gone forever.

    “Look at the industrial park and the estate we are building, people are going to work there. Last year, we decided to use technology to drive collection of revenue. We have crossed the N200m mark monthly from N30m. These are monies some persons think  it was their right to collect.”

  • Governors, deputies: Torn apart by defection

    Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu examines how defections have always led to the parting of ways between governors and their deputies. He points the way out of the logjam.

    POLITICS of defection has often created a gulf between govenors and their deputies across dispensations. In some states, the parting of ways were managed with maturity and tolerance. In others governors simply turned the heat on their deputies to either whip into line or force their exit through removals by the legislature.

    In Sokoto State, crisis may be brewing in the Government House. The politics of defection has created a gulf between Governor Aminu Tambuwal and his deputy, Ahmed Aliyu. The governor has defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but the deputy governor has reiterated his loyalty to the APC, the vehicle on which the duo rode into office on May 29, 2015.

    The implication of the political abnormality, as an observer put it sarcastically, is that Sokoto may still be described as both APC and PDP state. Reason: The governorship is a joint ticket between the governor and deputy.

    Politically, it is a delicate balance. The governor is a senior partner within the framework of a joint ticket. His deputy has no specific power under the constitution, except the functions delegated to him by his principal. But, despite his limitations, the number two position has potentials. The deputy is the direct inheritor of the throne, if his boss dies or is incapacitated. Thus, when there is a divided political interest, there will be mutual suspicion.

    In the ‘Born to Rule’ State, while the governor has been presiding over PDP meetings, his deputy has been an active participant in the APC’s agenda to checkmate him. As Tambuwal is planning to get a second term, Aliyu is working with the leaders of his party to install a successor to the governor on the platform of the APC.

    In the history of defections, the Northwest state stands out. Since 2007, Sokoto has established a pattern of discord between governors and their deputies over the change of camps and allegiance. Defection is not totally a rosy affair. Not every politician is falling for the bug. Curiously, in previous dispensations, former governors did not make a fuse over the unwillingness of their deputies to follow their footsteps as they jumped ship.

    Towards the tail end of former Governor Attahiru Bafarawa’s tenure in 2007, a crisis of confidence over succession broke out between him and his deputy, Aliyu Wamakko. The deputy governor wanted to succeed his boss. But, the governor had a different agenda. To pull the rug off the feet of the then ruling All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the PDP strategically made an overture to Wamakko. The former Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Mukthar Shagari, who had earlier been tipped for governor, was asked to surrender the ticket to Wamakko. He accepted to become Wamakko’s running mate. Both were elected governor and deputy governor.

    In 2014, Wamakko defected to the APC, following the crisis that hit the party under former President Goodluck Jonathan. However, his deputy, Shagari, maintained his loyalty to the PDP. Although he lost out during the governorship nomination, the former minister consistently maintained an abiding interest in the PDP. Despite the friction, there was no threat of impeachment against the deputy governor. But, Shagari had to slow down his participation in official functions.

    Tambuwal’s defection is consistent with the trend in Sokoto. A source said he has the backing of prominent monarchs to call it quits with the APC. Reminiscent of earlier dispensations, Aliyu has refused to defect along with him. Although the governor has dissolved his cabinet, Aliyu is not affected by the dissolution, which was meant to do away with the anti-defection members and make it a wholly PDP cabinet.

    The deputy governor, a loyalist of Wamakko, is on the side of his the senator, who is perceived as the Sokoto APC leader. Instructively, the Sokoto APC chairman and 12 members of the House of Assembly have also refused to desert the APC on principle.

    While a governor is at liberty to hire and fire his commissioners and advisers, some of whom may not be a member of his party, he cannot fire his deputy. The deputy governor can only be removed by the legislature, if he commits impeachable offences. What constitutes an impeachable offence can only be determined by the parliament or the court of law. But, the refusal of a deputy governor to jump ship may not be a convincing reason for his removal.

    What fate awaits Aliyu? Will he defect later? Will he resist the persuasion to cross over? If he does not defect, will the House wake up to the possibility of dangling the impeachment hammer? Will he resign?

    In Kano State, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, the deputy governor, resigned after defecting from the APC to the PDP. If he had waited for a week to take the decisive decision, the House of Assembly, motivated by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, would have issued the red flag. The signs of defection were ominous. He and his boss had been in a cat and mouse relationship.

    In the Northcentral, defection is taking its toll on the governor/deputy relations in Benue where Governor Samuel Ortom had called it quits with the APC, but his deputy, Benson Abounu seems to be adamant. Abounu, an engineer and loyalist of Senator George Akume, appears to be sitting on the fence as he is silent on whether he will go and join his boss in the PDP or remain in the APC to join forces against his principal’s comeback bid under the PDP platform.

    Sources said the camp of the governor is mounting pressure on his deputy to emulate his Kwara State counterpart, Elder Peter Kishira, who defected along with his boss, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, to the PDP.

    In contrast, there was no open hostility between former Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu and his deputy, Alhaji Musa Ibeto, when the later moved to the APC, leaving his boss behind in the PDP. Ibeto did not resign. Aliyu was aloof to his defection. There was no pressure on him to vacate his office. However, Ibeto, until recently the Nigerian Ambassador to South Africa, has retraced his steps to his former party.

    Feeling remorseful, Ibeto apologised to the PDP for jumping ship in the run-up to the 2015 general elections.

    Perhaps, other states may have to learn from the Sokoto and Niger example of temporary tolerance, especially when the administration is winding up. The crisis of confidence imposed by the parting of ways between governors and their deputies, have been managed without permitting the escalation of tension.

    The scenario contrasted with the Ondo experience. When former Governor Olusegun Mimiko defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the PDP, his deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, declined to defect. He complained that the governor did not carry him along. Besides, he said there was no moral reason to return to a party, from which he defected to the LP, based on complaints against victimisation and injustice. Olanusi was impeached for not jumping ship, although the court later ruled that he was shoved aside in error. The old man later joined the APC. Ironically, Mimiko is back in the LP.

    What was the pattern in the Second Republic? Deputy governors who defected from the party of their governors honourably resigned their positions to avoid conflicts. In those days, there was much devotion to ideology. The corridor of power was not avenue for private accumulation. Politics was vocation, and not occupation.

    In the Old Ondo State, the former deputy governor, Chief Akin Omoboriowo (now late), even resigned, following his declaration of intention to rule the state, at a time his boss, the late Chief Michael Ajasin under the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), wanted a second term. He later joined the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN. His colleague in the Old Oyo State, the late Chief Sunday Afolabi, also resigned before he defected to the NPN.

    In 2007, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who defected from the PDP to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), stayed in office till the end of the administration. When former President Olusegun Obasanjo moved against him, he ran to the court for justice. He survived the onslaught.

     

    The odds against deputies

     

    Why are deputy governors reluctant to defect with their governors? In many states, the deputies are not the preferred choice of the governors. They were either imposed on them by the party or selected as running mates for ethnic or religious balancing. They do not always belong to the same caucus within the party. They may not be united by similarity of vision, ideas and goals.

    What is the position of the 1999 Constitution on the import of a joint ticket? Can the joint ticket be separated by broken allegiance and differential loyalties to political parties? The constitution has provisions for the position of the deputy governor as a spare tyre of sorts. While the governor highlights the conditions for electing and removing deputy governors, it is silent on what should happen to the deputy governor, if he defects from the party that brought him to power or he refuses to defect when the governor defects from the party.

    This obvious gap or omission may be a subject of constitution review in the future.

     

  • Defection: What difference can Dogara make?

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara has a decision to make. Will he defect to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or remain in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)? Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the implications of the options he may embrace for his political career.

    Yakubu Dogara, lawyer and House of Representatives Speaker, may be in a fix. A cloud of uncertainty appears to be hovering on the political career of the eminent politician from Bogoro Local Government Area of Bauchi State. He has a decision to make. Will the number four citizen defect from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as being speculated? Will he embrace reconciliation and keep his APC membership card?

    Before last weekend’s senatorial by-election result, the Speaker was said to be in a dilemma. Judging by the results of the election in his native Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Constituency, is defection still a viable option? If he jumps ship like Senate President Bukola Saraki, who dumped the party penultimate week, what future awaits him?

    APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole has said that the party has confidence in him. But, does he have confidence in the platform? Will the chairman succeed in persuading him to jettison his defection plan? If he defects or does not defect, what future awaits him?

    Observers say the outcome of the by-election may be a pointer to 2019. It shows that APC is still in control of Bauchi. Apart from the candidates of the APC and the PDP, their parties and leaders were also on the popularity scale during the exercise.

    The election, in part, could be described as a referendum on President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Mohammed Abubakar and the APC. The poll, just like the ones that took place simultaneously in Cross River, Katsina and Kogi states, was a litmus test. The Bauchi exercise showed that voters were still emotionally attached to APC, despite the propaganda of defectors who have sought to dent the image of the party.

    APC candidate Lawan Gumau won the Bauchi South by-election with 119,489 votes. According to the Returning Officer, Prof. Ahmed Sarkin-Pagam, he defeated eight other candidates, including the flag bearer of the PDP, Ladan Salihu, who polled 50, 256. The margin is wide. Interestingly, former Governor Isa Yuguda, who ran on the platform of the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), also lost his deposit. He got 33, 079 votes.

    If the votes of the PDP and GPN are combined, it will still be a far cry. The result is a worthy tribute to the memory of the late Senator Alo Wakili, who died on March 17. He was a chieftain of the APC. The result affirmed that Bauchi is an APC stronghold.

    But, Dogara is not a paper weight politician at home. The mark of departure is that the Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency, which he represents in the Lower Chamber, has been polarised. The constituency is made up of Bogoro, Dass and Tafawa Balewa councils. In his native Bogoro council, the poll result reflected his leaning to the opposition. Since it is an open secret that the federal legislator and his supporters swung the pendulum to the direction of the PDP, the opposition party defeated the APC in the council. This is a confirmation that Dogara is the undisputed political leader of Bogoro. The PDP got 6,646, APC secured 3,992. However, the jubilation across the wards in Bogoro council was short-lived. Outside Bogoro, voters sang a different tune. At the end, it was evident that the Speaker had a potent, but a narrow base. Therefore, analysts suggested that Dogara would need APC just as the party needs him to win Bogoro in next year’s polls.

    Also, the two APC senators who have defected to the PDP – Isa Misau and Nazif Gamawa – could not spring any surprise. Their defection did not create a bandwagon effect during the by-election.

    In Dass council, APC got 7, 432 votes and PDP polled 4,028. In Tafawa Balewa, APC also defeated the PDP, garnering 14,309 votes to PDP’s 8,528. In other councils, APC maintained a peculiar pattern of electoral victory.

    The trend affirmed APC as the party to beat in Bauchi. It may also be the signpost to next year’s election. Indeed, the Bauchi poll was full of drama. As women cast their ballot, they also shouted the usual slogan of Sai Baba, echoing their nostalgic commitment to President Buhari and reiterating their determination to build on their fraternal goodwill, solidarity and loyalty to the president in February, next year’s election. It was an open endorsement of his second term bid. The scenario may mean that the president is still popular at the grassroots in many of the northern states.

    The poll result was also reminiscent of the 2015 governorship and presidential elections when voters endorsed the APC at the polls. In 2015, the APC won in 19 of the 20 local governments in Bauchi during the governorship poll. The councils are: Alkaleri, Bauchi, Dass, Tafawa Balewa, Kirfi, Misau, Darazo, Katagun, Itas-Gadau, Toro, Ganduwa and Dambam. Others are Giade, Ningi, Jama’re, Shira, Warji, and Zaki. Instructively, the ruling party lost in Bogoro council.

    Abubakar, the former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, garnered 654, 934 votes to emerge winner. His rival, Mohammed Jatau of the PDP, polled 282,650 votes. In fact, Abubakar defeated the PDP in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area, where the former PDP national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, hails from. He also won in Zaki Council, Jatau’s birthplace.

    In the 2015 presidential election, President Buhari’s APC got 931, 598 votes. Former President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP got 86,085 votes. If Dogara defects and teams up with Misau and Gamawa in the PDP, can they alter the trend and pull the rug off the feet of the president and governor in Bauchi?

    As an APC chieftain, Dogara is not perceived as a difficult politician who is aloof to compromise. Despite the circumstances surrounding his emergence as Speaker, he was conciliatory after the controversial election of House of Representatives principal officers.

    He beckoned to his rival, Femi Gbajabiamila from Surulere Constituency and the candidate of party leaders, urging him to vie for the position of Deputy Speaker. Unlike the Senate President Bukola Saraki, there is no deep-seated hostility between him and the APC national leadership. However, there is no love lost between Dogara and the Bauchi governor. They seem to have an axe to grind over local matters at the home front. Efforts to resolve the differences in the last three-and-a-half years have proved abortive.

    Dogara, a Christian from a predominantly Muslim state, has an ambition to occupy the driver’s seat at the Government House in Bauch. It is a legitimate aspiration. He may still be a candidate of the future, if he plays his card very well.

    Governor Abubakar is interested in a second term. This may jeopardise the Speaker’s governorship ambition on the platform of the APC. But, if he defects to the PDP, can he also get the ticket of the rival party?

    Two options are open to Dogara in the APC as the polity warms up for next year’s polls. If he does not defect, no chieftain will struggle for the House of Representatives ticket with him in his constituency. He may also vie for the Senate, although the primary will be a bone of contention between him and the new senator.

    If he decides to remain in the APC, R-APC or nPDP forces may brand him a traitor.

    If Dogara defects to the PDP and gets its governorship, senatorial or House of Representatives ticket, can he win at the poll?  Can he defeat Governor Abubakar in next year’s election?

  • Defection, counter-defection and imminent re-drawing of South south political map

    Carpet-crossing, decampment, defection or whatever name it is couched has been part of our body politic for such a long time that its end is hardly conceivable. In plain language, it connotes the repudiation of a political platform one had earlier espoused and embraced and, in some cases, through which one had been elected into a particular public office, and the joining of another one. Notwithstanding this seemingly negative attribute, defection may not necessarily be a bad thing.  It may even be done for good. A defector, for instance, may have suddenly realised he had all along belonged in the wrong group or realised the association he once promoted or identified with may have dumped those fine ideals it once professed. What is appalling about abdicating one party for another is the way and manner the action is often undertaken in our clime, bereft of any altruistic underpinning.  The comportment of some defectors and the end defection is designed to serve are even more dismaying.

    A few analysts have attempted a comparison of some defections recently witnessed in the country when some 14 or so Senators left the governing APC for mostly opposition PDP and a flurry other defections followed. After the14 Senators announced on the floor of the Senate they were moving out of APC, Senate President Bukola Saraki, known to be APC only in name since he fraudulently ascended the Senate leadership position, expectedly joined them.  In the days that followed, however, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who is former governor of Akwa Ibom State, also sensationally defected from PDP into APC.

    Now, it has been argued that Akpabio’s singular defection embodies a higher political credence than that those of Senate President Saraki and the other Senators combined. His defection is something that would pass for a counter attack in the game of football. Akpabio’s move is a big blow to the PDP; it’s akin to a dagger in the heart of the opposition party. The PDP got 14 Senators including Saraki whose grip on the Senate presidency has become weak and rickety, the APC in return grabbed the Minority Leader, the PDP Leader in the Senate, and with that, also symbolically won the control of perhaps not only the Akwa Ibom home-state of former governor Akpabio and the entire South-South. This is why it seems so. Akpabio is that highly regarded political leader in the South-South geo-political zone with a crushing grip on the politics of Akwa Ibom State where he erected most of the key infrastructure on parade today and successfully installed his erstwhile Secretary to the State Government Udom Emmanuel as governor in 2015, at the expiration of his own tenure. His defection has given the APC a huge inroad into the South-South where the party seems non-existent, signalling an imminent change in the power configuration in that geo-political zone.

    Akpabio’s defection is also remarkable in one other important way. Upon his decision to defect, the former governor wrote a letter to the Senate and the PDP caucus in the Chamber, relinquishing his position as Minority Leader, taking the path of honour and by so doing demonstrating to the other defectors the respectable way to handle such a situation. This, in my view, represents a new high in the matter of defection. It is perhaps due to his bewildering political influence and the noble way he went about his defection that the APC National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole labelled Akpabio an uncommon defector. Akpabio’s act would pile more pressure on some of the defectors particularly Senate President Saraki who left the APC but has stubbornly refused and in fact has been engaging in all kinds of subterfuge to not relinquish the office he obtained on the APC platform. Not surrendering a crown or an office acquired through an earlier association with a party whose membership one has now repudiated, in my view, raises a huge moral issue and remains a moral burden on the occupant of such an office. For how long will such defectors, for how long will Saraki for whom such moral issue holds no importance, hold on in that office? Time will tell.

    But beyond the apt lessons in defections, Akpabio’s declaration for APC last Wednesday at the township Stadium in Ikot Ekpene, his hometown, was exciting. The crowd was massive. The rally was grand. Dignitaries thronged the occasion in their hundreds. There were also great speeches. In attendance among others were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha who represented Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, APC National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Comrade Oshiomhole, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan and some other distinguished Senators as well as Ministers and other top government functionaries.

    At the rally, Osinbajo declared that treasury looters would no longer be allowed to return to power.  Asiwaju Tinubu took a swipe at former President Olusegun Obasanjo for kicking against President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election, alleging that Obasanjo was part of the PDP that ran the country for 16 years without results. Energetic Comrade Oshiomhole pronounced Akpabio the new leader of APC in Akwa Ibom State, stating that Akwa Ibom people were united that in 2019, under the leadership and guidance of Akpabio, the state would join the “states of progressive governance”. On the defection and Akpabio’s honourable act, Oshiomhole said: “What other people are afraid to do, Akpabio did it after deep reflection. He listened to the yearnings of his people, by sacrificing the title of Minority Leader of the Senate, to join the APC. Akpabio did what Senator Bukola Saraki is unable to do and he has shown that the people of the South-south zone can be different, where it matters. We can stand up and be counted.”

    He added:”I know that with your membership of our great party (APC), we will benefit from your uncommon transformation qualities you demonstrated while you were the governor of this state. You are an uncommon defector. There are ordinary defectors, who want to move, but they want to steal the crown. We have an uncommon rally in Ikot Ekpene”. Responding, Akpabio said he decided to join the APC “in the national interest” and to support President Buhari whom he described as a man of integrity and a nationalist. “I decided to join the APC at this time because I am a nationalist. In times like this, everybody should support to bring peace to our dear nation; to stop the killings and ensure employment of our teeming youths. With my declaration, uncommon change has come to Akwa Ibom. We believe that the South-south cannot stand alone on its own. We need to collaborate with others. I consulted. What I have done today is to take the people of the South-south to the centre.”

    But the move that culminated in Akpabio’s final decision to cross over to APC did not come from the blues. It was a properly coordinated affair, apparently initiated by the APC National Leader Tinubu who was engaged for many months in series of meetings and discussions in Lagos and Abuja with the former governor. When the deal was finally consummated and he was set to declare for APC, former governor Akpabio headed for London to meet President Buhari who was then holidaying in the United Kingdom. He later returned to Abuja for further deliberations with Asiwaju Tinubu ahead of his declaration. This was barely three days to the declaration rally in Ikot Ekpene. Confirming the eventual success of the initiative Asiwaju started, Akpabio reportedly told the APC leader, as he sat down in audience with him at his Abuja office that he was “back for final consultation and meeting where it all began.” And without being asked to do so, those around them in that office immediately began clicking their cameras and positioning their mobile phones to take the momentous

     

    • Rahman, former Editor THISDAY on Sunday, is Media Adviser to Asiwaju Tinubu.

     

  • Senator Aduda denies defecting to APC

    Senate Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Philip Aduda, Thursday denied dumping the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Aduda who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja said that Nigerians should disregard the news making the round that he has defected to the APC.

    The FCT senator also said that he is also not planning to leave the PDP.

    Read Also:My defection to APC voluntary, unconditional – Suleiman

    The lawmaker said that he is not only a PDP leader in his ward; he is also a leader of the party at the national level.

    He described the news in the social media on Wednesday that he has ditched the PDP for the APC as fake news that should be disregarded in its entirety.

    He said, “The social media was awash yesterday (Wednesday) that I have defected from the PDP to the APC. I want to tell Nigerians that it is fake news. I am in PDP and I remain in PDP. I am not cut out for politics of jumping from one party to another. I will continue to be in PDP. There should be ideology in politics.

    “I promised FCT people to champion those things that promote peace and unity in the FCT and the country in general. That is what I have been doing and will continue to do.

    “The people of FCT and my supporters should not bother. The news is totally unfounded and fake news.  I have no plan whatsoever to defect and I will not defect. I will not leave the PDP for any other party.”

    Aduda urged those behind “this false information to desist from deceiving the people.”

  • Defection: PDP chair mocks Akpabio for joining ‘sinking ship’

    The National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus has mocked the erstwhile Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akoabio, for jumping into a “sinking ship”.

    Akpabio had on Monday, dumped the PDP for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in a move perceived by many as ploy to leverage on his status in the APC.

    Read Also:Akpabio meets Buhari in UK ahead defection to APC

    Describing Akpabio’s action as unfortunate, Secondus said Akpabio chose to walk against the tide to endanger his otherwise rising political career.

    In a statement on Wednesday by his media aide, Ike Abonyi, the PDP chair said he found it very strange that anybody would go into a “sinking ship” at a time every other person was finding their way out of it.

    Secondus traced Akpabio’s action to self-preservation and not borne out of any rational strategic political decision.

    The party chair added that Akpabio’s decision did not enjoy the blessing of the people of Akwa Ibom whose mandate he enjoyed for eight years as state governor and his present position senator.

    Secondus said, “I cannot fathom any reason why on earth Senator Akpabio should work against the tide, moving at opposite direction to a place every reasonable person is escaping from.

    “He deserves our pity because whatever would make somebody to choose bad for good is clearly one that he should be prayed for, for salvation, especially given the fact that wolves are waiting for his arrival to devour him.

    “How on earth can anybody who has his eyes wide open be seen walking into danger knowingly”.

    Prince Secondus lashed out at the APC, for allegedly arm-twisting and intimidating people into what he described as a “sinking boat”, ostensibly to ruin and disintegrate the person involved.

    He called on the people of Akwa Ibom to be wise and know when to turn their back from a leader directing them to danger.

    “I urge you to remain focused and continue to give support to your hard working governor, His Excellency Emmanuel Udom as he remains unrelenting in the delivery of democracy to the people,” he said.

     

  • Six Kano Assembly members defect from APC

    Six members of the KwanKwasiyya group , at the Kano state House of Assembly on Wednesday defected from APC to PDP.

    The Speaker of the House, Alhaji Kabiru Alhassan Rurum while reading the defection letter of the members at plenary today, revealed that, the members said it became necessary for them to leave their previous party based on the premise that the party has failed to meet the aspiration and yearnings of the people they represent.

    Read Also: Kano Assembly Speaker removed

    The defectors are from six local government that include Yusuf Babangida Suliaman representing Gwale, Rabiu Saleh from Gwarzo, Zubairu Mahmud from Madobi, Yusuf Abdullahi Falgore from Rogo, Hamza Sule Bichi from Bichi and Isiaku Ali Danja from Gezaw

    The Nation reports that the PDP members are presently seven in the house out of forty members.

    However, it was on Wednesday that the erstwhile deputy governor Prof Hafiz Abubakar and ten former aides of the governor also defected to PDP