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Tag: defectors

  • Defectors at work

    Dino, comical and shallow, is not qualified to be described as a good striker. Neither is he a lethargic defender. He surely knows how to kick his master’s opponents in the groin, raising his hands in the air to show that he is not the aggressor while the opponents are growling in pains. Can Dino be a good buy? The season will soon open

    IS it for no reason that Tuesday’s events at the National Assembly happened at a time when major soccer leagues around the world are embroiled in their transfer season?

    The World Cup has just ended. Offers are pouring in for the stars who sparkled at the tournament, including our dearest Ahmed Musa, whose goal has been listed among the best. Teams armed with incredible offers are falling over one another to buy good players. When the new season opens after the closure of the buzzing transfer window, we should have a great spectacle of soccer artistry.

    Why have our lawmakers chosen this season to hit the transfer market? Their love for soccer? Mere coincidence? Just to animate the dull political scene and restore the vivacity it lost long ago? Could they just be playing to the gallery to draw attention to how serious our never appreciated lawmakers take their job?

    It is neither here nor there, but what is clear is that our lawmakers have jammed the transfer window. In all, 14 senators defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC). But the APC keeps its majority with 52 senators. The PDP has 50. There are 109 senators. Two are dead and one, Joshua Dariye, is in jail for corruption. The ADC has three and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has two.

    In the House, 37 members dumped the APC, which retains its majority with 192. PDP has 156 members. APGA has five.

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom was the first to parlay the soccer metaphor to explain his political discomfiture. “I have been given a red card by the APC,” he announced the other day with the soberness of a bereaved man.

    The party at the local level rejoined that His Excellency has no electoral value. The National Secretariat assured Ortom that all would be well, but like a bush fire the crisis at the state level seems to be spreading. It has engulfed the House of Assembly, which is split, with one arm saying the Speaker has been impeached and the other screaming that the status quo remains.

    Ortom finally found his way out of APC yesterday.

    How easy is it for a team that is, for instance, two goals down at almost full time to level up and win when its best striker has bagged a red card? But does being a governor even make Ortom APC’s number one striker? Even if he is not, should he be treated with contempt and odium as if he is not part of the first 11?

    Back to the National Assembly. How many of these defectors are good strikers on whom the party and the electorate can depend to fight their battle and protect their future? How many have manned their positions well in the 4-4-3 formation led by Buhari? Has the goalkeeper lived up to expectation, considering the number of goals conceded? Who are the players acting like victims here?

    In other words, how many progressive bills have they passed? Of these distinguished senators and honourable members, how many have moved a motion that has become a tangible instrument for the improvement of the lives of the common man? Will this mass transfer boost the receiving team’s chances in the coming elections?  This is too early to determine.

    The PDP, hobbled by its past and confused by its future, is eager to unveil its new signings. Their leading lights have been having fun – laughing, huffing and  taunting about how the APC will find its Waterloo in the coming elections.

    To former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who many deride as a serial defector and a desperate presidential aspirant, the defections “indicate that there is hope that Nigeria can be rescued from the misrule of the APC”. His campaigner-in-chief Otunba Gbenga Daniel (remember him; the former Ogun State governor, whose tenure ended on a turbulent and sensational note has also hailed the defectors.

    President Muhammadu Buhari views the defections as a seasonal occurrence  on the eve of major elections. He is confident that they will not harm the party.

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike views it all as “democracy  taking shape”. He gloats that “it is a happy day”. A cheeky fellow has asked why Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose is yet to comment on the defections. A source close to His Excellency has said he has been so busy, torn between preparing his handover notes and putting together his manifesto for his historic presidential ambition that was subsumed in the failed battle to install his protégé, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, as his successor. Besides, the governor has been visiting the physiotherapist on account of his neck, broken mysteriously by teargas during the battle, aforementioned.

    The good news from one of his most trusted aides: “Oga is recovering fast.”

    Senator Lanre Tejuosho (Ogun Central), one of the defectors, is not likely to win an election on his own, even if he is backed by any of the major parties. He says he is without a party now. His political future remains a matter of mental conjecture, he would like us to believe.

    Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna North), one of the defectors, may not seek re-election.  He and Governor Nasir El-Rufai have been holding each other by the throat for the control of the APC. Who will blame the distinguished senator; his building, which housed his faction of the APC, has been demolished – an operation  El-Rufai was said to have personally led. The influential striker of a senator is yet to announce his future.

    Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West), fresh from another controversy, was all over the chamber on Tuesday, as excited as a kid who has just landed a bowl of ice cream. He claimed recently to have survived an assassination attempt. The police disagreed, saying the senator’s guards fired at their men. One policeman is said to be in intensive care after the incident. Besides, the distinguished senator was arraigned yesterday for attempted suicide.

    Dino, comical and shallow, is not qualified to be described as a good striker. Neither is he a lethargic defender. He surely knows how to kick his master’s opponents in the groin, raising his hands in the air to show that he is not the aggressor while the opponents are growling in pains. Can Dino be a good buy? The season will soon open.

    The story has been told of how Governor Abiola Ajimobi brought Senator Monsurat Sunmonu (Oyo North) into politics, all the way from London. After a stint as Assembly Speaker, she became a senator. Apparently believing that the party may not bless her return to the Senate, she has pitched her tent with Ajimobi’s opponents to turn the heat on him. Will the PDP celebrate this new sign-on? Again, time will tell.

    Kano’s Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso has also jumped ship. He has Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of APC to contend with and Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, staid, but calculative, to battle. Both are seeking the same prize – a presidential ticket.

    The popular thinking is that our senators lack the team spirit that Nigeria badly needs now. They have constituted themselves to a major opponent of the executive, oblivious of the public interest but fully awake to their own selfish interest that has seen each carting home month after month an incredible N11.3m, besides other perks of office. All that matters is politics. And politics. Nothing else. No ideology. Nor principle.

    Unlike the Croatian World Cup team, our team of senators lacks the fighting spirit of great athletes, the agility of champions and the vision of great leaders. Little wonder they have become the subject of derisory and scornful jokes.

    Consider this sent to me by a friend; it is titled: “Innocence at its best”:

    “A small boy parks his bicycle near the parliament house and walks on. A police constable stops him and asks: ‘why did you park your bicycle here? Don’t you know about this road? Many MPs, sometimes CMs, even President and cabinet ministers and politicians pass from here…’

    “The boy replied innocently: ‘Don’t worry, I have locked my bicycle.”

  • Different strokes for defectors

    The dust raised by Tuesday’s defection of federal legislators may take long to settle. To some Nigerians, the masterminds of the action must be punished. Others feel the defections will not affect the fortune of the ruling party in next year’s general elections. MIKE ODIEGWU (Yenagoa), KOLADE ADEYEMI (Kano) and Onyedi Ojiabor (Abuja), report.

    REACTIONS yesterday trailed the defections of some National Assembly members from the ruling All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and United Progressives Party (UPP).

    Fourteen senators and 37 representatives defected on Tuesday before the Red and Green chambers adjourned till September 25. The PDP gained 11 of the defecting senators and three pitched tent with the ADC. In the lower legislative chamber, 32 aligned with the PDD, four, all from Oyo State, moved to the ADC, and another one resigned his membership of the ruling party.

    The rival PDP, which was ecstatic with the harvest of defectors, also lost one of its members in the Green Chamber to the UPP.

    Not a few Nigerians believe that the defectors were driven by personal motives, rather than the desire to take democratic dividends to their constituents.

     

    APC chief calls for Saraki’s expulsion

     

    Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, called for an immediate expulsion of Senate President Bukola Saraki from the ruling party for anti-party activities.

    In a statement, Nabena accused Saraki of being in cahoots with the defectors.

    He said: “Being the ringleader, there was no justification for APC to continue to tolerate Saraki. He must go now. Or be shown the way out.”

    Nabena, who said that the party leadership and members were not surprised by the defections, said the people were rather shocked by Saraki’s utterances and body language, which revealed unconcealed cooperation with the defectors.

    His words: “The news of the about 14 senators who reportedly defected from our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), hardly came as a surprise to anyone. What, however, shocked political observers, especially democratic minds, was Senate President Bukola Saraki’s postures and expressions, which clearly communicated his unhidden complicity in the charades against his supposed party.

    “Clearly, Saraki had a big hand in organising the events that transpired in the National Assembly. He has, therefore, lost the moral justification to remain in APC. The time to expel him from the party is now.

    “The public outing by the deserters at the National Assembly was the culmination of months of anti-party activities organised and directed by Saraki. And every scene in that dramatic work of shame revealed his hand.

    “When the senators submitted the letter declaring their intention to leave APC, which was excitedly read by Saraki, the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, attempted to point out what should have been the right procedure if APC had a true party man at the helm.

    “Lawan tried to emphasise the need to allow some time for dialogue, knowing that politics is always a game of negotiation, dialogue, and agreement. Rather than listen to the Senate Leader and stand down the defections, at least temporarily, to see how the situation could be salvaged, Saraki simply gave in to his own consuming interest in the whole affair and enthusiastically shut down the valid intervention by Lawan.

    “The senate president went on to make a deceitful case for the defectors. APC as a democratic institution of democrats understands that people have the freedom of association. Saraki did not need to remind us or anyone of that fact.

    “Like we had cause to emphasise in a recent statement, ‘the APC is not averse to dissenting positions. But we reject deceit in every shade or form’.

    “We have also previously emphasised the fact that the Senate President is the major sponsor of the so-called Reformed All Progressives Congress (rAPC), which has pulled out of APC, and whose members in the National Assembly staged the exit that we saw today (yesterday).

    “Being the ringleader, therefore, there is no justification for APC’s continued toleration of Saraki. He must go now. Or be shown the way out.”

     

    No soft landing for Kwankwaso in Kano

     

    Welcoming Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s defection from the APC, former Kano State Governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau urged the senator and his supporters to abide by the rules in the PDP.

    Kwankwaso’s return to the PDP may have reopened old rivalry between him and Shekarau, himself a founding member of the APC, who had to leave the party for Kwankwaso, then as a sitting governor in Kano.

    The directive was that serving governors who dumped the PDP for the APC should be made party leaders in their states.

    Reacting to Kwankwaso’s defection through his media aide, Sule Ya’u Sule, the former governor said he hoped Kwankwaso had changed.

    The development confirmed the fear that the defectors would have to fight for supremacy where some chieftains had institutionalised themselves in the last three years.

    Sule quoted his principal as saying: “I hope the PDP has received a reformed Kwankwaso. I hope it is not the old Kwankwaso I knew. I hope he will this time around abide by the rules and regulations of the PDP. I hope he will not repeat what he did after he joined APC in 2015. At that time, he took over everything leaving us with empty hand.”

    Shekarau regretted that the party they had laboured for at the end handed over the leadership of the party to Kwankwaso in 2015.

    “I hope Kwankwaso is not coming to PDP to repeat the injustice he did in 2015. If everybody will be allowed to play his card according to rules of the party that will be better for him (Kwankwaso) and every member of the party.”

     

    Defection won’t affect Buhari’s re-election

     

    A socio-cultural group, Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum, believed Tuesday’s defections would be of no political consequence.

    It will not adversely affect President Muhammadu Buhari’s bid for re-election next year, the forum said in a statement by its Secretary-General, Akin Malaolu.

    In the statement issued in Abuja, Malaolu said that some political elements were piling undue pressure on democracy.

    The statement reads: “We are not sad over the political troubles which some reactionary political elements are putting Nigeria’s democracy into gloomy forebodings on account of war against corruption.

    “They are neither capable, nor with the capacity to turn the table against APC in the 2019 elections. We hold on to these views mainly because Buhari was and still is the tree trunk that others leaned on to get into their seats at the National Assembly.

    “Such characters’ decision to cross-carpet, though unlawful, will not carry them far and given time they shall all become sober and remorseful soon.

    “Yoruba Ronu expects APC defectors’ constituencies to ask qualified questions for which they must provide their people with good answers.

    “The people of Nigeria today, now know their enemies to include looters and purveyors of irrational consolations that dotted our landscape.

    “This clearly has drawn a line between evil and good, which shall herald us into a better and greater Nigeria of our dreams.

    “One good thing that has stood for Buhari and his government is the respect for law and order with honesty to right the wrongs done to the helpless and hapless masses.”

    He called on Nigerians, especially those craving for progressive and people-oriented governance to keep faith with the APC-led government.

    Yoruba Ronu cautioned the Senate and House of Representatives against any attempt to impeach Buhari.

    It said: “We must, however, warn against forceful impeachment of the President, the consequences may be amazing in every nooks and crannies of the country.

    “Anyone or group that pushes 20 million  people into general resentments caused by religious divisions and to the ethnic may not survive it, that is not our wish for Nigeria.”

    He said that peace-loving Nigerians will remain solidly behind the APC despite the unfair judgments on the government by reactionary forces.

    “It shall be so into many elections to come. We are glad that the government of Buhari is making progress in the right direction for the teeming masses as his first choice,” Malaolu said.

     

    ADC flag for defectors

     

    A day after pitching tent with the ADC, Senator Abdul Aziz Murtala Nyako (Adamawa Central) yesterday got his new party’s flag and banner yesterday, as symbols of the admission.

    ADC’s National Chairman Raphael Nwosu, who presented the symbols to Nyako, described yesterday as a special day for the party.

    Nwosu said that it was instructive that Nyako, unlike most Nigerians, left a party in power to join a party in the making.

    The senator’s defection to ADC, he said, was indicative of a politician who has service to humanity in mind.

    Insisting that “destiny beckons on Nyako”, the party chairman noted that it was obvious that Nyako would go places “not only in Adamawa but also in the country.”

    He said: “Nyako has distinguished himself. He has become a catalyst for transformation of the country. From him we are going to paint the National Assembly ADC. Nyako is the kind of Nigerian ADC is looking for because our party is for the youths, women and for everybody. We are making history today as we hand over our flag and banner to him to fly all over the National Assembly and beyond.”

    Nyako said that he was elated for the honour the party did to him, promising to fly the ADC flag to greater height.

    Appreciating the fact that there were high expectations, the senator noted that God will make everything possible for him.

    He said: “I am from Adamawa State which is very complex. In Adamawa, we have 87 ethnic groups. There about 300 ethnic groups in Nigeria. If we have 87 ethnic groups in our state, that means we have a quarter of the ethnic groups in the country.

    “There are no empowerment programmes in the state to enable the youths to empower themselves. Anywhere you plant poverty, what you reap is hunger. Once you have hunger what follows are clashes and conflicts. Our people are extremely poor and hungry and they are killing themselves. Everywhere you go in Adamawa, there is one problem or the other.”

    On why he left the APC, Nyako said that they tried in vain to convince the APC leadership to appreciate the grave injustice done to party members in the name of party congress in the state.

    According to him, ward congress was conducted in only one ward in the state while the picture was painted that congresses were conducted in all the wards.

    He said the ADC was on a rescue mission and its members determined to salvage the situation.

  • Defectors, Buhari and APC

    SIR: When general election nears, defections and realignments are normal- they add salt and pepper to the game of politicking.

    Most of the senators that defected on Tuesday July 24, have different reasons for doing so- some for losing the control of party structures at their states. For some, it is the only way to secure a return ticket, while for others, it is a show of loyalty to their godfathers. That’s the game. You can’t blame the senators; they need a political survival strategy that works for them.

    Let us also reflect, most of the senators that defected were members of the nPDP- one leg in APC, the other in PDP. They were in APC for a reason, and the reason is no more. However, to be fair to the majority of the defectors, they don’t have personal grudges with President Muhammadu Buhari, except few of them. President Buhari also said: “None of the defecting federal lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had any specific grievances against me or the government I lead; neither did I harbour anything against any of them”.

    What happened on Tuesday is not new and will not be the last. In fact, the green chamber has witnessed its own version. Similarly, the same scenarios have happened and will continue to happen at local and state levels with climax after party primaries. We will witness more defections across the two major political parties PDP and APC.  It is a honey-bitter game, depending on how political parties utilize it and how the voting population defines it. Some defections will be costly mistakes while other will yield fruits.

    The APC as a political party with sudden fame and power with diverse political blocs found itself in a catch-22 situation – succumb to pressure from a senator or a member House of Representatives then lose a sitting-governor. It is either of the two. The APC went for sitting governors but mismanaged the crisis at local and national levels. The die is cast- best option now for the APC is to let it be, but manage the remaining crisis politically and scientifically. No also forgetting that, with the current political settings in Nigeria, same problem will happen to any political party in power.

    The political tension will only settle after the 2019 elections. But it is something interesting for students of politics.

     

    • Zayyad I.Muhammad,

    Jimeta, Adamawa State.

     

  • Defectors stir up a great political storm

    A day after potential defectors from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) met in Ilorin, Kwara State, ostensibly to condole with Kawu Baraje over the passing of his mother, but in reality to fine-tune arrangements for their defection to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Buhari and his party also met with roughly the same aggrieved politicians in Abuja. The politicians — defectors and loyalists alike — are likely to feel giddy from being courted by Machiavellian suitors. The meeting in Ilorin last Wednesday was as high-powered as they come, with the PDP chairman, Uche Secondus, in attendance.

    They deliberated on a number of wide-ranging issues concerning the planned defection, and the attendees all seemed to be quite at ease with one another. No one postured grandly with superior airs, and no one felt badly used. But nothing was cast in stone at the end of the meeting that involved Senate President Bukola Saraki and at least four governors. The Abuja meeting was equally high-powered, with President Muhammadu Buhari who had at first forsworn such a meeting presiding over the discussions.

    The Abuja meeting had the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, four governors, and governor-elect Kayode Fayemi in attendance. While the Ilorin meeting was clear about its objectives, to wit, how to seamlessly migrate into the opposition fold without loss of face or status, the Abuja meeting, which seemed foisted on the president by anxious party apparatchiks, kept its goals under wraps. Nevertheless, observers imagined that the Thursday meeting was probably designed to persuade the potential defectors to stay put in the APC. No one knows why the president was desperate to host the meeting. He had given the impression mid-June that he had no wish to meet with the aggrieved politicians led by an implacable surrogate of Dr Saraki.

    The president, according to unverified accounts, also added that if anyone wished to defect, such a person was free to indulge himself. Now, the defection talks have grown in frequency and intensity, and with these come palpable fear and commotion within the APC that the coalition being engineered against the ruling party could in fact balloon into a dangerous and unrelenting ogre. Having tasted the perquisites of Nigeria’s monarchical presidency, the APC seems totally loth to surrender the reins of power, or for anyone to remove their snout firmly locked in the nation’s trough. Faced with the danger of a ballooning coalition and the unthinkable possibility of losing the presidency in 2019, the resolve of the president to call the bluff of defectors has simply collapsed like a pack of cards. No one knows for sure what the outcomes of the Ilorin and Abuja meetings are. Nigerians have only a general indication of what the meetings set out to achieve. But whether those goals have been achieved or are even partially achieved, or still whether they are achievable, is hard to say.

    The potential defectors are weighing their options and will try to balance their fear of governmental terror, against which they now appear inoculated, with the allure of associating with a party capable of giving them a sense of belonging and equality. They know by instinct what the PDP represents to them: a party they are familiar with, one now so sobered by defeat as to enthrone a level playing field for its members, and one which at least for the moment does not have a monarch at its helm. And they also know that whatever they do, and regardless of the agreement reached by the APC leadership to placate them, the ruling party is always capable of surprising them and treating them, in the days of trouble, with cold and stultifying detachment. The potential defectors have congregated under the banner of the Reformed APC (R-APC), and they consist mostly of those who left the PDP in 2014 or thereabout under the banner of the new PDP (nPDP).

    The nomenclatural ingenuity of the footloose political warriors may not have advanced considerably in the past four years, but their potential to cause huge disruptions in partisan calculations has not abated at all. Whether nPDP or R-APC, the potential defectors retain enough political amperage to scald any ruling party. The APC may wish to keep their fingers crossed should the defectors make good their threat, but it is not clear they would want to find out what the consequences of that mass  defection would be for the ruling party’s chances in 2019. They would rather try everything in their power to keep the status quo, hoping that a bird in hand would always be worth more than a dozen in the bush. Such even-tempered suppositions are not misplaced at all. Why fight a war when you can make love? The desperate PDP are, however, clear what they want.

    Not only do they not have a presidential candidate they think can readily beat the APC’s President Buhari, they do not believe they even have a coalition strong, severe and nimble enough to unhorse the ruling party. If they cannot at the drop of a hat produce that supernova candidate, they at least reason that they should be able to produce an intimidating coalition that can put fright into the ruling party, confuse their calculations, and put them on tenterhooks. Moreover, they are unable to carry out the reforms and repositioning that could fetch them the respect and reverence of the electorate, while their officials appear to lack the verve and ingenuity to displace the APC with the aplomb they claimed their 16 years in office had imbued them. In the absence of these virtues, PDP leaders reasoned, and given their desperation and the temptations that assail them, a powerful coalition consisting of some of Nigeria’s political heavyweights must be their best bet to dismantle the ruling party.

    If that coalition eludes them, and if the reforms and regeneration needed to reposition them in the hearts of the electorate do not take place, the PDP could suffer irreparable damage. Indeed, it is hard to see the coalition being put together by former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the PDP amounting to anything significant if Dr Saraki and his fellow R-APC discontents are not part of the equation. So far, given the back and forth between the R-APC and the PDP on the one hand, and the R-APC and President Buhari and the APC on the other hand, no one knows where the pendulum will swing in the next few weeks. The potential defectors, some of whom like Benue governor Samuel Ortom have become emotionally dizzy from considering too many options, will have to damn the consequences, close their eyes, and throw the dice. If they are unable eventually to rationally make up their minds, they may approach the issue of defection with the casual guesswork conversant with Nigerian politicians. The APC is, however, not throwing up its hands in resignation.

    They will keep up the pressure on the potential defectors until they change their minds. Party leaders have even managed to persuade the president to smile at the aggrieved politicians, hold peace meeting with them, and probably offer them some assurances. There are no immediate indications they will succeed in reining in the R-APC. If they succeed, the 2019 elections will become much harder for the PDP coalition to crack. But if they fail, unfortunately for them, there is little left by way of harassment they can inflict on the defectors. Having unsheathed their swords against those they hate far too early in the titanic race, and having made little impact on the economy and also failed to promise the societal re-engineering and restructuring most Nigerians demand, the departure of the R-APC could constitute a major danger for their hold on power. In short, despite their smugness and bravado, both the PDP and the APC cannot really afford to treat the R-APC with levity. The aspiring defectors are the beautiful bride; they will be courted with the assiduity the president finds discomfiting and the PDP finds enervating. But courted they must be. Yet, if the defectors take perverse delight in foot-dragging for much longer than is desirable for their own self-preservation, they may end up losing on both ends. They are however unlikely to keep both sides of the political divide guessing for too long. They will cut the Gordian knot and hope that enough of the rope would remain in their grip to climb to safety.

  • Oyo APC receives defectors, Unity Forum members in Saki

    The ranks of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State got a boost yesterday as the Saki West Local Government chapter received thousands of defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and members of APC Unity Forum who declined to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

    The new members were received amid fanfare by the Saki West APC Chairmen, Mr Azeez Ayinla, in company of party leaders and elders in the zone.

    Ayinla noted that the impressive turnout of the defectors was an indication that the party had not been shaken by the threat of the opposition as well as members of factional Unity Forum.

    The chairman assured the new members that the APC would win convincingly in Oyo State in next year’s general elections.

    He urged the new members to work for the victory of the party.

    On behalf of the new members, Mr Mutiu Adewale said their action was borne out of the fact that Governor Abiola Ajimobi had not only done well in the last seven and a half years but had also transformed the state in unprecedented ways in the history of the state.

    Ayinla cited the dualisation of Saki township road, upgrade of the health and education sectors, among others, to warrant the support for the APC.

    He promised to work in tandem with party leaders to ensure the party’s victory at the polls.

    The chairmen of Saki West Local Government Area, Dr. Idowu Akano; Asabari Local Council Development Authority (LCDA), Kareem Adegoke and Wewe LCDA, Niyi Olawuwo, called for unity and co-operation among members so that “the policies of Ajimobi’s administration, such as urban renewal, sustainable environment, poverty allegation, industrialisation and employment opportunities could be sustained”.

     

  • Defectors, Buhari and APC

    SIR: When general election nears, defections and realignments are normal- they add salt and pepper to the game of politicking.

    Most of the senators that defected on Tuesday July 24, have different reasons for doing so- some for losing the control of party structures at their states. For some, it is the only way to secure a return ticket, while for others, it is a show of loyalty to their godfathers. That’s the game. You can’t blame the senators; they need a political survival strategy that works for them.

    Let us also reflect, most of the senators that defected were members of the nPDP- one leg in APC, the other in PDP. They were in APC for a reason, and the reason is no more. However, to be fair to the majority of the defectors, they don’t have personal grudges with President Muhammadu Buhari, except few of them. President Buhari also said: “None of the defecting federal lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had any specific grievances against me or the government I lead; neither did I harbour anything against any of them”.

    What happened on Tuesday is not new and will not be the last. In fact, the green chamber has witnessed its own version. Similarly, the same scenarios have happened and will continue to happen at local and state levels with climax after party primaries. We will witness more defections across the two major political parties PDP and APC.  It is a honey-bitter game, depending on how political parties utilize it and how the voting population defines it. Some defections will be costly mistakes while other will yield fruits.

    The APC as a political party with sudden fame and power with diverse political blocs found itself in a catch-22 situation – succumb to pressure from a senator or a member House of Representatives then lose a sitting-governor. It is either of the two. The APC went for sitting governors but mismanaged the crisis at local and national levels. The die is cast- best option now for the APC is to let it be, but manage the remaining crisis politically and scientifically. No also forgetting that, with the current political settings in Nigeria, same problem will happen to any political party in power.

    The political tension will only settle after the 2019 elections. But it is something interesting for students of politics.

     

    • Zayyad I.Muhammad, Jimeta, Adamawa State.
  • 2019: PDP rejects automatic tickets for Atiku, other defectors

    2019: PDP rejects automatic tickets for Atiku, other defectors

    •Considers APC option for contestants
    •Zuma’s exit may alter Atiku’s equation
    •Saraki, Dogara in tight corner as
    APC woos Wammako

    There will be no automatic ticket in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for defectors from other parties when the PDP meets  to pick its candidates later this year for the 2019 elections, The Nation can now reveal.

    And this applies to the likes of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar (who has already joined the PDP), and  Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso  as well as  Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State both of who are yet to join the party.

    Established PDP members who are eyeing the presidential ticket include ex-Governor Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano); ex-Governor Sule Lamido (Jigawa); a former Interim National Chairman of PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi; Governor Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti); ex-Governor Attahiru Bafarawa (who is under pressure to join the race).

    Party sources said yesterday that the PDP turned down requests for automatic presidential ticket for some bigwigs in APC wishing to switch parties.

    Kwankwaso and Tambuwal are said to be testing the waters before making their next moves.

    But the APC is not relenting in persuading some of its stalwarts, including Senate President  Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker,  Yakubu Dogara, Sen. Aliyu Wammako, Sen. Danjuma Goje and Sen. Ahmed Sani Yerima, to remain within the fold.

    Sources said Saraki and Dogara appeared to be in a tight corner because they feel the APC have not been fair to them.

    The two leaders are said to be “patching” their stay in APC until what a source described as a “critical political stage” in a few months’ time.

    It was gathered that some  presidential aspirants from APC had given the  PDP some conditions for them to defect, the most critical being “ceding the  PDP presidential ticket” to them.

    The high level party source, familiar with the development, said: “About five APC stalwarts have approached PDP for talks but their request centered on giving automatic presidential ticket to them.

    “But the party leadership has said that while it is ready to welcome these leaders and new members to PDP, it cannot concede automatic ticket to any.

    “I think the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus and his National Working Committee members are being fair. There is only a ticket available; it will be difficult to promise five leaders the same ticket.

    “The PDP may adopt the same method used by the APC in 2014 by allowing all the aspirants to go for primaries and whoever wins the majority of votes will be the presidential candidate of the party.

    “This is the only safe and fair option available to us as a party now. We want to leave the race open for all to avoid any fresh crisis in PDP.”

    The source said the PDP, at its last National Convention, foresaw the likely defection of some APC leaders and presidential aspirants.

    “This was why we amended the constitution of the party which allows new members to come in within three months and aspire for any political office,” he said. “This concession is substantial.

    “Some APC governors are in talks with PDP and we are also deliberately wooing some strategic leaders. At the appropriate time when we have reached appreciable agreement, we will let Nigerians know.”

    Two out of the PDP aspirants may have suffered a little jolt but they still have enough time to recover.

    These are ex-VP Atiku Abubakar and Sen. Makarfi.

    A former governor said: “We warned Makarfi against dancing to the tunes of governors to allow the South-South to produce the National Chairman of PDP. But he did so because the governors had an unwritten agreement with him to give him the presidential ticket.

    “Now, it is apparent that the governors have really betrayed him. They are no longer keen on him. He is battling to consolidate his structure.

    “As for Atiku, the exit of ex-President Jacob Zuma will affect the international dimension to his candidature. Having been very close, Zuma had been in the vanguard of selling Atiku’s candidacy to world leaders.

    “The home front is also shaky for Atiku with the shift of loyalty to Buhari by Governor Jibrilla Bindow and the continuous defection of PDP leaders and members to APC in Adamawa State. The appointment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, has shrunk Atiku’s base.

    “It is not surprising that the President will be visiting Adamawa this week as part of his pulse-feeling shuttles to some states under the guise of commissioning of projects.

    “The increasing interest of the First Lady in the politics in Adamawa State might further deplete Atiku’s camp.”

    But it was obvious last night that the PDP governors might still play a crucial role in determining who will get the presidential ticket.

    “These governors had their way with delegates at the last convention and the game may not be different during the presidential primaries,” another PDP leader said.

    Investigation however revealed that since some parties may merge with PDP, some Northern leaders may insist on giving the slot to an underdog to clip the wings of some political leaders who have become “veteran presidential candidates.”

    A key Northern leader said: “While the PDP remains a solid alternative to APC, we are also thinking along getting an underdog to break away from this cycle of ambitious presidential aspirants.

    “We think the talks and negotiation on PDP presidential candidate may be broad based than what the party is looking at.

    “And if you look at the pattern since 1978, the negotiation may not lead to the presidential ticket for any of these big names they are already peddling.

    “It is not new to have an underdog as President. In 1978, ex-President Shehu Shagari wanted to be a Senator, he ended up as the presidential candidate of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN); the late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua wanted the ticket of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) but the late Chief M.K.O got the slot and his election was annulled in 1993.

    “In 1998, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted only freedom from Yola Prison but he became the President against favoured leaders of G-34 and in 2007, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua secured PDP presidential ticket on a platter of gold. And the same luck was the lot of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 and 2015.”

    On its part, the  APC has launched a counter-plot to also woo some PDP governors and leaders to its side.

    The ruling party is battling to retain some of its match-makers like ex-Governor Aliyu Wammako, ex-Governor of Yobe State, Sen. Bukar  Abba Ibrahim, ex-Governor Danjuma Goje;  ex-Governor Saidu Dakingari; ex-Governor Bayo Alao-Akala and others.

    A source in APC said: “As for Wammako, the exit of Governor Tambuwal will enable him to have his political structure back in Sokoto State and install his own man as the new governor. The perception is that Tambuwal is not loyal enough.

    “But loyalists of Tambuwal have disputed any strain in the relationship between their boss and Wammako. They cited the renovation of Wammako’s house in Abuja by the state government, after an inferno, as a mark of his loyalty.

    “Some forces are also trying to woo ex-Governor Attahiru Bafarawa who was one of the leaders that initially worked with the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and later APC.

    “Contrary to assumption, there is no political alliance between Tambuwal and Bafarawa. In fact, Bafarawa has been begging the Sokoto State Government to pay his entitlements since he left office in 2007. He even sent a message some months ago but no action has been taken.

    “Whatever may be the game plan, I think there is also a plan to make Wammako the Deputy Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Organisation of Buhari for the 2019 poll.

    “As for Goje, he already has the APC structure back in Gombe State and this puts him in good stead for 2019 poll. But being a political ally of the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, APC leaders are unsure whether or not he will leave the party.

    “Concerning Sen. Bukar Abba Ibrahim, he practices politics without bitterness and the degrading of Boko Haram insurgency might make him to remain in APC. He is also consistent in not joining PDP since 1999.”

    It was unclear last night where Saraki and Dogara are heading to.

    A top source close to them merely said: “It is a bit dicey for them, they are still engaging in talks and some political permutations.

    “I think we know what Saraki went through, especially his trials. He is not comfortable with APC because it can be worse if Buhari gets a second term.

    “Also, Dogara is politically tied to the apron strings of Tambuwal who has not given a clear cut direction of his next step.

    “Besides, the APC has not addressed the crisis of confidence between Dogara and the Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar. Instead, the presidency identifies more with the Governor than the Speaker.”

  • Why we dumped PDP for APC, by defectors

    Several members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State have dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The defectors were led by former Education Secretary of Akoko Southwest, Ware Olukayode.

    The APC chieftain said the defectors were attracted to the ruling party because of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration’s developmental revolution in Akoko and other parts of the state.

    Olukayode said the defectors were grateful to the governor for the rehabilitation of Oka Akoko road.

    Their leader, who said many lives have been lost on the road, added that Akeredolu has shown that his government places premium on human lives.

    He said the PDP had become a shadow of itself, adding that the party is no longer acceptable to Akoko residents.

    Olukayode said: “We have come to join the winning team. Akeredolu has consolidated on the popularity of the APC in Akoko.

    “APC has been winning in Akoko for a long time. It is because the party is deep-rooted here. We want to join the rest of our people; the PDP is no longer a place of abode for us.”

    Receiving the defectors, the party’s Chairman Ade Adetimehin assured the members of a level-playing field.

    He advised them to keep faith with the party and support the development drive of Governor Akeredolu’s administration.

    Adetimehin urged APC members involved in anti-party activities during last year’s governorship election, to retrace their steps into the party.

    He said they could return to the party by following the appropriate channel in their wards.

     

  • Atiku urges other defectors to return

    Atiku urges other defectors to return

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday called on other politicians that dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to return to the PDP.

    Atiku was received at the party’s Abuja secretariat by the chairman of the Caretaker Committee Senator Ahmed Makarfi.

    The former Vice President said it is only by their returning to the PDP that he and other defectors could build a stronger and more united PDP that can regain power in 2019.

    Addressing Makarfi, Atiku said, “All what I have come to do today is to come and show my face. Many people have read in the media that I have returned home. This is home.

    “Let me pay tribute to past leadership of this great party wherever they may be and to call upon them to please return home as I have done.

    “It is only by their returning home that we will build a stronger, more united party that can again return to government and continue to deliver the dividends of democracy.

    ”I can bet you the records we have achieved so far in governance, no government has yet even done 50 per cent of what we have achieved in government, not to talk of equalling our performance in government”.

    “Over the years, like any or every human organisation, PDP has faced its challenges. But I want to pay tribute to those who have stayed steadfast through thick and thin to see us through to this point.

    “Now that we have learnt our lessons, I hope that we will be guided by the lessons we have learnt. And that is to make sure that we build an all-inclusive party, where every part of this country will have a sense of belonging and sense of participation”

    Makarfi  said Atiku had opened the flood gates and that the party expects more high profile returnees and new entrants into the PDP in the days ahead.

    “So PDP must be prepared for this, and be ready to reconcile and reintegrate in such a way and manner that everybody will be treated and given a level playing field to purse his or her personal aspiration. That is what PDP must stand for if it has to survive.

    The party chair denied the existence of any secret deal with Atiku for him to return to the party, adding that the ex Vice President isn’t one to go for secret deals.

    “You have returned in good time and you should continue to contribute in this reinvention, remodeling of our party so that come 2019, we can reclaim what we can claim as ours. Because we still remain the only true democratic party in the true sense of the the word.

    “We thank you for coming before the convention so that you can contribute to what we have started going forward. We will continue to consult you.

    You will also help us reinvent the vehicle that will take us to Aso rock in 2019, we are not just targeting Aso Rock, we are targeting the federal legislature, the states; both the executive and legislature. We are targeting the local governments.

    “We want to sweep elections all across the country. As a united party, we have the capacity and we have the ability to do so”, Makarfi said.

  • ‘Defectors from PDP are retracing their steps’

    ‘Defectors from PDP are retracing their steps’

    Former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairmanship aspirant. He spoke with Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU on preparations for the December 9 National Convention.

    How is the party tackling the challenge of reconciliation among the rank and file, ahead of the convention?

    I think kudos must be given to Senator Ahmed Makarfi, who is the Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee. He has a very good disposition, very good mien; he is highly intelligent. Even, at the point of victory, he declared that there was no victor, no vanquished. He has forgiven all those who had done something untoward to the party from the beginning of the crisis to the victory at the Supreme Court. He is only going to look at people after that ‘no victor, no vanquished’ who has committed anti-party activities. He has been able to carry on with the reconciliation process. If you look at our own zone, reconciliation is being addressed in specific terms. A lot of people have come back into the party. Reconciliation is going on. I am happy with what has happened in Oyo State. We have had people who left the party have returned; people like former Governor Ladoja. Seyi Makinde who went to SDP has returned to the party. Even, former Governor Akala, who went to the Labour Party, and later, to the APC, is considering coming back to the party. He has not completely concluded, but he is considering it. Everybody came to the conclusion that it is only by coming together that we can win. If we look at what is going on in Osun, it is also similar. People are coming to terms with the fact that we can’t get things in absolute terms. You can see our people coming together. One can say the same thing about other states-Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, everywhere. If you go outside the Southwest, I have also seen a lot of movement. The mood is the mood of reconciliation and it is exciting.

    How is your friend, Chief Tunde Odanye, trying to do the assignment given to him as the Caretaker Committee chairman in Ogun, in terms of repositioning the chapter and laying the ground for the conduct of the state congress that will lead to the emergence of new members of the executive council?

    Most people do not know that Tunde Odanye is quite an experienced politician. He ran for the governor in Osun State sometimes ago. He later joined the party. More importantly, he is a lawyer of several decades. If you look at the challenges we have had in Ogun State, it is more or less an incidence of law. I am happy that he was given the opportunity. Somebody who has up to 40 years of experience in the legal profession. He is able to see how a number of people have misused the courts; taking advantages of loopholes to do all sorts of things. He is liberal enough. He is talking to everybody; visiting everybody and I know he will achieve the best for the party in Ogun State.

    Is reconciliation still possible between you and Senator Buruji Kashamu in the interest of your party in Ogun State?

    Not just in Ogun State, but also nationally. Reconciliation has no colour. In this political process, I have seen it happen all the times. There are really no permanent enemy, but permanent interest. I have absolutely nothing personal against the senator. We disagree basically on principle. The point of disagreement is not something that is secretive. I have a strategy of organizing the party to win elections as the first step. Because I believe that, if the party does not win elections, then, you cannot have any benefit, either individually or collectively for the people. When you now have people who feel that the process also must be profitable, then, you have a big challenge in your hand. What am I saying? Once we all come to terms with the fact that we are no longer in power, everybody must put whatever he has on the table in the overall interest of everybody. Then, we can create points of convergence. But, the only thing some of us will not compromise is our principle. Otherwise, there are no issues.

    How do you view the agitation to Egbado or Yewa in 2019?

    You know that at the twilight of my administration in 2011, I was on top of the agitation for reasons of equity, fair play and to give everybody a sense of belonging, so that people of Ogun West can also produce the governor. Not because I have any pecuniary interest. I just thought that this things happened on a national scale. In the build up to the 1999 election, the Southwest felt that with the demise of Abiola, it should be assuaged. People agreed that the Southwest should produce the president. That was why the election was between two prominent Yoruba, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae. So, that was equity at play. That was fair play at play. In 2011, I also felt that, since the people of Ogun Central and Ogun East had had the opportunity to rule, we should support the people of Ogun West. But, unfortunately, that did not happen at that time. What’s even sad was that the current governor even won in some locations in Ogun West, despite the fact that he is from Ogun Central. People then felt that Ogun West people should put their acts together. One cannot blame them because politics in Ogun is not ethnic. That itself is a good development. The corollary is that, if Ogun West wants to rule, then, they must look at things that bind them together and develop it. It is clear from the demography and statistics that Ogun West cannot produce the governor on their own without the support of the Ogun Central and Ogun East. I am from Ogun East. When I was running in 2003, the largest vote I got was from Abeokuta South, which is Ogun Central. That tells us that the people of Ogun State are very sophisticated. They look more at personalities. If a towering personality who is able to network across the state, people will follow him. The challenge therefore, is for Ogun West to come up with personalities that are not parochial and can sell themselves. Politics in Ogun State has become quite sophisticated and less ethnic in terms of voting pattern. When I was governor, a lot of people believed I favoured a lot of people from Ogun West more than the people of Ogun East. Ogun West’s quest is something that I support. I have been an apostle of Ogun West for governor. The reality today is that Ogun West must look for one good candidate who can network across the length and breath of Ogun State. I have no doubt in my mind that they will get a lot of sympathy. If that happens, anyone from anywhere in Ogun State can become governor.