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Tag: defectors

  • Kebbi APC receives defectors

    Kebbi APC receives defectors

    No fewer than 50,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kebbi  State have defected to the All Progressives Congress as the party’s governorship candidate, Senator  Atiku  Bagudu, rounded off his campaign tour.

    APC  Publicity Secretary Alhaji Sani Dododo  made this known in a statement in the Zuru.

    He said the party was overwhelmed by the huge number of defectors from the PDP from various wards in the area.

    He said the people of the area had complained bitterly to the APC standard bearer over the years of neglect by the PDP administrations in the state, adding that “the people said they were tired of 16 years of deceit.”

    He hinged the popularity of the APC in the area and the state on “the broom revolution,” claiming that the PDP was now a shadow of itself.

    Dododo explained that while the APC had carried its campaigns to the nooks and crannies of the state, the PDP had stopped its campaigns at local governments because the people are angry at the bulk of failed promises over the years.

    The spokesman said over 9,594 defectors from the PDP in  Shanga, Yauri,  and another 25,000 ex-service men in Zuru Emirate have joined the APC.

    “When we took stock of the PDP members coming to join us in each area  we realized that we got over 20,000 zamfarawas in Zuru, and 6,54 Maitti Allah Association of cattle rearers in Shanga Zuru and Yauri  have now joined us,” he said.

    He however distanced the APC from attacks on the PDP campaign train in parts of the state, explaining that those who attacked the PDP were its aggrieved members.

    “We preach peace wherever we go.”

    Bagudu  expressed joy as he received the decamped members. He assured them of justice and  better developments  ahead if elected  into office. He urged them not to sell their Permanent Voters’ Cards for a token and make sure that they come out and vote massively for the APC. He urged them to vote on the election day and wait for their vote to be counted.”

  • 3,000 PDP defectors join APC in Sokoto

    Over 3,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto State yesterday dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The defectors were mainly from Isa Local Government Area, the home front of former governor Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, a PDP chieftain.

    Receiving the defectors in Isa town, the state APC Chairman, Usman Danmadamin-Isa, hailed them for choosing a more reliable political path.

    He said: “It is a thing of joy as you immediately realise where you can have a sense of belonging for your future, not where you are left to guessing for survival.”

    Danmadamin-Isa noted that the defectors’ decision was akin to leaving darkness for light.

    The APC chairman said the PDP was at the verge of disintegration in the state, adding that its members were deserting the party in large number in the 23 local government areas.

    He said the PDP was a symbol of political doom whose national leadership were creating divisions among Nigerians through the politics of religion and ethnicity.

    Usman Danmadamin-Isa blamed the PDP for not tackling insurgency and for the killings in the North in the last three years.

    The APC chairman said it was only Gen. Muhammad Buhari that has the capacity to tackle the security bedeviling the country.

  • Defectors plan mass return to Edo APC

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in ward 10, Ugbegun in Esan Central local government area of Edo state, Comrade Mathew Emiohe, yesterday said those who hitherto had left the party owing to the fallout in the party congresses have concluded arrangement to return to the ruling APC.

    Emiohe, who spoke in Benin City, the state capital, said the visible transformation recorded by the administration of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in the last six years across coupled the result of the grassroots mobilization and support for the party has informed the decision of members who had long left the APC to return back and build the party.

  • No apologies to defectors, says Oshiomhole

    No apologies to defectors, says Oshiomhole

    Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has said he has no apologies to those who have left the All Progressives Congress (APC) because he did not “put money in their pockets”.

    Oshiomhole said he would never share resources meant for developing the state to a few individuals.

    He spoke at the presentation of a staff of office to the Oghieavhianwu of Avhianwu, Alhaji Jackson Etokhana.

    The governor urged the people to support politicians who stand for the interest of the majority, rather than personal interest.

    He said: “We must educate our people. I am not asking you to carry party cards; I only ask you and your chiefs to educate our people on the need to distinguish politicians who will stand only when it is good for their family, not when it is good for the larger community.

    “Our people must start to distinguish thieves from real politicians. They must begin to interrogate all manner of political miscreants, who come, wanting to cash in on the poverty of our people. I always say that to be poor is not to be crazy, so we must be clear.

    “For those who are defecting because I do not put money in their pockets, let them continue to defect; I have no apologies. Everybody will be remembered when they write the history of politics in Afemai land.

    “You will always be governed by politicians, whether you like it or not, but you must carefully select leaders who understand that state power is not for the private comfort of those around the state operators.”

    Oshiomhole said his administration would never interfere with traditional matters or sponsor any petition against any monarch, adding: “The foundation for peace and stability requires that we respect not only the traditional institution, but traditional rulers who sit on the various thrones.”

    Etokhana said: “I see my installation as a call to complement the laudable efforts of our governor at bringing peace and development to the people. As the paramount head of Avhianwu, it is my duty to act as a pathfinder, a rallying point and coordinator-general of our individual efforts to promote peace and development.”

    He thanked the governor for the provision of boreholes, building and renovation of schools at Iraokhor and Ogbona.

    At the ceremony were All Progressives Congress (APC) State Chairman Anselm Ojezua, Etsako Central Local Government Chairman Emmanuel Momoh and top government officials.

  • Draft constitution: Defectors to vacate office

    Draft constitution: Defectors to vacate office

    Elected officials should automatically vacate their seats if they defect to another party, the national Conference has recommended.

    But it has retained a four-year tenure system for all political office holders, including the President.

    Besides, advocates of state police got a piece of good news; it is in the Draft Constitution.

    The conference also said the nation should now have a Constitutional Court and an Anti-Corruption Court.

    It said the number of states in the Federation should be 54 instead of the present 36.

    States are free to create as many local governments as may be expedient for them – should the recommendations be accepted.

    The states will also be at liberty to reduce their number of local governments.

    These recommendations are some of the highlights in the Draft Constitution, which was distributed to all delegates on Monday.

    The draft constitution has caused a split among delegates, especially those from the North who are alleging that it was smuggled into the agenda of the conference.

    Delegates broke into North-South caucus yesterday to strategise for the resumption of the plenary today in Abuja.

    But The Nation obtained the draft constitution yesterday. It includes most of the key recommendations of the conference.

    Other new recommendations are compulsory military service for all Nigerians; approval of independent candidacy; appointment of 18 ministers with at least three from each of the six geopolitical zones; merger of states; and establishment of Independent Grand Jury to investigate impeachable offences against a sitting President.

    Contrary to the fears of the North on single term tenure, the Draft Constitution has retained the existing four-year tenure system in Section 135, Section 180 and Section 68.

    There is a provision for a sitting President or governor to vacate office upon defection from his party.

    Section 135 reads: “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of the President until being a person whose election was sponsored by one political party he becomes a member of any other political party before the expiration of that period for which he was elected shall automatically vacate the office.

    “Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years …”

    Regarding the removal of a governor, Section 180 of the Draft Constitution, among others, says: “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of Governor of a State until being a person whose election was sponsored by one political party he becomes a member of any other political party before the expiration of that period for which he was elected shall automatically vacate the office.”

    In what appeared to be a solution to the security challenges facing the nation, the Draft Constitution expressly provides for State Police.

    But it is optional for any state that requires such a policing system.

    The section states: “There shall be a state police at the state level for any state that requires the establishment of a State Police for that state.

    “The State Police shall be established, controlled and administered in accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by a law of the House of Assembly of that State.

    “The members of the State Police shall have such powers and duties as may be conferred on them by the laws of that state which shall not be in conflict with powers and duties of the Federal Police.”

    Section 3 of the Draft Constitution deals with the increase in the number of states from 36 to 54.

    “The section says: “There shall be 54 states in Nigeria, that is to say Aba, Abia, Adada, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Amana, Anambra, Anioma, Apa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Edu, Ekiti, Enugu, Etiti, Ghari, Gombe, Gurara, Ijebu, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kainji, Kano, Katagum, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, New Oyo, Njaba Anim, Niger, Ogoja, Ogun, Oil Rivers, Ondo, Ose, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Savannah, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.”

    Regarding the establishment of local governments, Section 7 of the Draft Constitution has vested the powers to create same on states.

    But states wishing to merge with others can do so, in line with Section 8A of the Draft Constitution.

    It reads: “Without prejudice to states constituting the federation units,  states that wish to merge may do so, provided that (a) a two-thirds majority of all members in each of the Houses of Assembly of each of the states in which such merger is proposed support by resolution the merger; (b) a referendum is conducted in each of the states proposing to merge with 75 per cent of the eligible voters in each of those states approving the merger; and the National Assembly by resolution passed by a simple majority of membership approves of the merger.”

    It also indicated that the nation might operate a two-tier system of Federal and State structures.

    The section reads in part: “States shall create local governments, which shall be under the jurisdiction of that state.

    “States that wish to may increase or reduce the number of existing local governments which shall be under the jurisdiction of the state.

    “The number, structure, form and administration of local governments shall be determined by states, provided that the tenure of elected local government councils shall be three years.

    “The Independent National Electoral Commission shall divide the local government or the area council into two or three equal parts as the case may be for the purpose of the rotation of the office of the chairman.”

    On courts, the Draft Constitution has provision for the creation of the Constitutional Court and the Anti-Corruption Court.

    It has asserted the independence of the courts.

    Section 6 (1) (4) (5 a-l) (6) says: “The judicial powers of the Federation shall be vested in the courts to which this section relates, being courts established for the Federation.

    “Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be construed as precluding (a) the National Assembly or any House of Assembly from establishing courts, other than those to which this section relates, with subordinate jurisdiction to that of a High Court; (b) the National Assembly or any House of Assembly, which does not require it, from abolishing any court which it has power to establish or which it has brought into being.

    “This section relates to (a) the Supreme Court of Nigeria; (b) the Federal Court of Appeal;(c ) the State Court of Appeal(d) the Federal High Court(e) the Constitutional Court(f) the Anti-Corruption Court; (g) the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (h) a High Court of a State; (i) the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (j) a Sharia Court of Appeal of a State; (k) the Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (l) a Customary Court of Appeal of a State.

    “In the exercise of judicial powers, the courts shall be independent and shall not be subject to the control or direction of any person or authority.

    “No person or authority shall interfere with the court or judicial officers in the exercise of their judicial functions.”

    In line with what is obtainable in the United States and some Western nations, the Conference has made provision for a compulsory military service for all Nigerians in the Draft Constitution.

    Section 220 says: “The Federation shall establish and maintain adequate facilities for carrying into effect any Act of the National Assembly providing for compulsory military training or military service for citizens of Nigeria.

    “Until an Act of the National Assembly is made in that behalf, the President may maintain adequate facilities in any secondary or post-secondary educational institution in Nigeria for giving military training in any such institution which desires to have the training.”

    On independent candidacy, Section 221 of the Draft Constitution states: “Any Nigerian who meets the specified conditions in the Electoral Act shall be free to contest any election as an independent candidate.

    “For any person to contest as an independent candidate, he shall (a) have constituency-based nomination by verifiable signatures of 10 registered voters from each ward in the electoral constituency;

    “ (b) make a payment of financial deposits to be determined from time to time by the Independent National Electoral Commission which shall be equal to 10 per cent of the approved election expenses as provided in the Electoral Act; and (c) meet all  conditions for eligibility stipulated in the Constitution, the Electoral Act or any other laws.”

  • Growth imminent with APC, says Amosun

    Growth imminent with APC, says Amosun

    •’Defectors to PDP not our members’

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has said the coming of the All Progressives Congress (APC) marks a new dawn in Nigeria’s politics.

    He said the country would grow as soon as the APC takes over governance at the centre.

    Amosun spoke in Abeokuta, the state capital, during a valedictory meeting with leaders of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Ogun chapter.

    He said: “Nigeria has no business with poverty, given the quantum of its resources. It is unfortunate that it has been mismanaged and APC will address this. I am sure that if APC is at the helm of affairs, this country will progress within a short time.

    “This is the change we have been waiting for. It will transform the country.”

    The governor said the APC would soon be inaugurated in the state.

    At the meeting were Senators Olabiyi Durojaiye, Gbenga Kaka (Ogun East), Gbenga Obadara (Ogun Central), Akin Odunsi (Ogun West) and some House of Representatives’ members.

    Also yesterday the APC said the purported defectors to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ijebu-Igbo were not registered APC members.

    Ijebu North Local Government Secretary Adebayo Adekoya said the PDP’s claim that some APC members defected was spurious and a cheap propaganda to deceive the public.

    Adekoya said a former PDP State Secretary, Chief Otemolu Pegba, who announced at a political gathering in Ijebu-Igbo on Sunday that he has dumped APC for PDP, is not an APC member but a member of the Imole Group, which is involved in the Labour Party’s (LP’s) activities.

    He said: “How can a splinter group with scanty membership strength, which has been actively involved in LP activities, be referred to as APC faithful?

    “One wonders why the PDP has to resort to sensational and blatant lies to gain cheap political points that would serve no purpose.

    “They claimed that over 5,000 people defected from various parties to the PDP. In as much as I would not want to speak for other parties involved, I clearly state that the congregation at Prince Buruji Kashamu’s Ijebu-Igbo home, where the event was held, including security men and onlookers, according to reports, were not up to 2,000. How did they arrive at 5,000 defectors?

    “They can only sell such lies to dummies. I am doing this to set the records straight that the few people they claimed left for their party are mere political liabilities, who will add more to the internal wrangling in the PDP.

    “PDP is smarting from the crisis rocking it and has become desperate to the degree of recruiting undertakers to escort it to its final resting place – the archives of defunct Nigerian parties.”

     

  • Osun ACN to receive defectors

    Hundreds of thousand of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition political parties in Osun State will today defect to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

    Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the Acting Chairman of the party, Mr. Adelowo Adebiyi, will receive the defectors at a mega rally which will hold at the Government Technical College, Osogbo.

    Leaders of the ACN from all the 30 Local Government Areas will welcome the defectors.

    According to a statement by the party’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, the defectors who were prominent members of the PDP spread across all the 30 Local Government Areas.

    Oyatomi, who called on all progressive politicians in the state to troupe out en mass to welcome the defectors, stressed that security arrangements have been perfected to ensure a hitch-free rally.

    He said the defectors were convinced by the wonderful works of Aregbesola in the last two years, hence their decision to drop umbrella and embrace broom revolution, adding that the ACN in the state was more determined than ever before to set the pace for other political parties in the country.

    Members of the State Executive Council and the lawmakers are also expected to grace the occasion which will also have in attendance Executive Secretaries of the 30 Local Governments.

     

  • ACN alleges plot by Kwara to crackdown on members

    ACN alleges plot by Kwara to crackdown on members

    •PDP: defectors ’re not our members

    THE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday raised the alarm over what it called an imminent crackdown on its members in Kwara State following the defection of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) into its fold.

    In a statement in Akure, Ondo State by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party expressed concern over the “sabre-rattling and provocative” statements that have been emanating from the PDP government controlled organs in the state before, during and after the defection of their former loyalists to the ACN.

    It has become fashionable for the PDP-controlled government in Kwara State to find in the ACN a ready scape goat for its maladministration, incompetence, profligacy and anti -people policies which have totally alienated the long suffering people from their under performing government, the party explained.

    According to the party, it is no longer a secret that Kwara State government is owing its workers several months of unpaid salaries.However, in its usual penchant for looking for a scape goat for its shortcomings, the state government has perfected plans to arrest and detain ACN chieftains whenever the workers go on strike as if the workers need to be instigated by anyone to demand their legitimate rights.

    To keen watchers of Kwara State politics, this will not come as a surprise as the ACN was also held responsible for the violent protest that greeted the ban of commercial motorcyclists in the state recently, and a strident call was made for the arrest of ACN chieftains when the representatives of the government were booed and pelted with missiles at the Muslim Praying Ground last August, the party added.

    The profligacy, scandalous massive deductions by the government of funds meant for local government councils, incompetence, cronyism and anti -people policies of the government has brought such untold hardship to the people and left the state under developed that the people are left with no choice than to leave the sinking PDP in droves and embrace ACN, the party explained.

    It went on: “For a government that has repeatedly proclaimed to the world that the opposition is dead in the state, the recent massive defection of its former loyalists was bound to jolt and send it to overdrive especially given the quality of the political giants that left to join” the ACN such as:

    “Chief James Ayeni, the first Chairman of Irepodun Local Government and a three-time Commissioner, the most recent tenure being under former governor Bukola Saraki himself.

    “Mr. Jide Usman, an engineer and two term Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government Council, the biggest local government council in the state.

    “Abiodun Dada, a lawyer and former Auditor of the PDP in Ekiti Local Government Area”.

    “Hon Ayo Idowu, a member the Kwara State House of Assmbly (2007-2011).

    “Chief J. S. Adedoyin, a former Director of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and a grassroots politician.

    “Akinmade Yahaya Abolarin, a lawyer and former Legal Adviser of ACPN.

    “Alhaji Issa Raji (alias Kingibe of Kwara State), a former member of Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission.

    “Mr Teju Titiloye, former member, Governing Council College of Education, Kotongora

    “B. A. Atolagbe, a lawyer and former supervisory councillor, Irepodun Local Government council and former member, Kwara State Scholarship Board and Olanrewaju Shuaibu arguably the most redoubtable grassroots politician in Irepodun Local Government Area, the party concluded.

    But the Kwara State chapter of the PDP described the allegation as tissues of lies and propaganda.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Mas’ud Adebimpe, the party said, those the ACN paraded as defectors were never PDP members but impersonators.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, all those claiming to have defected are either members of ACN or ACPN. The only party acceptable to the people in the state is PDP”.

    The Peoples Democratic Party is undoubtedly formidable and on ground in Kwara State, it does not need to force people into its ever increasing fold, Adebimpe said.