The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Guber poll

  • ‘I won’t challenge result of Lagos guber poll’

    Mr Babatunde Gbadamosi, the Lagos State governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) says he will not contest the outcome of the governorship election in the state but prepare for the next election.

    Gbadamosi, a real estate mogul, told newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos that his decision was rooted in him having no confidence in the electoral system.

    He said: “My decision is to wait and contest the next election and hopefully, the votes will count then.

    “I agree that the election in the state was an absolute fraud and a sham with many instances of open multiple voting recorded in places like Ikorodu, Lagos Island.However, I do not have any more resources to waste on a process in which I have no confidence.

    “We keep learning and I believe that the will of the people will surely prevail in future elections in the state.“

    He also claimed that the fraud was carried out by known persons going from one polling unit to another, openly bearing firearms of all kinds.

    Gbadamosi, however, advised INEC to put its house in order to forestall most of the anomalies witnessed in the 2019 general elections in the future elections.

    He stressed the need to prosecute all those involved in electoral malpractices in 2019 general elections to serve as deterrent to others.

    The ADP candidate urged the incoming 9th National Assembly to come up with stiffer penalty for electoral offenders, to ensure much better polls in future.

    Read Also: Lagos-Ibadan highway: Pains of prolonged repairs

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Mr Owolabi Salis, the Lagos state governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) has, however, approached the state Election Petitions Tribunal to challenge the victory of Sanwo-Olu, followed by Mr Fagbemi Awamari, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP).

    The two petitioners prayed the tribunal to upturn the results of the March 9 governorship election, claiming that the election was marred by voter intimidation, vote-buying and multiple voting, adding that Sanwo-Olu was not fit to contest the 2019 governorship election.

    The candidates also sought a declaration of the tribunal that, the pronouncement of Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the governorship election was null and void and be set aside, based on the gross electoral fraud and/or gross electoral misconduct that characterised the governorship election in the state.

  • Guber Poll: INEC, police read riot act in Kaduna

    As the nation holds its governorship and House of Assembly elections today, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Kaduna State and the State Police Command have read the riot act to voters.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Alhaji Kaugama Abdullahi, warned yesterday that there will be no voting wherever there is no card reader.

    The State Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdulrahman, also warned those who have no business with moving around on election day to stay off the streets.

    The INEC boss and the Police Commissioner addressed a joint press briefing at the INEC headquarters in Kaduna.

    Abdullahi said that all INEC ad-hoc staff were drawn from higher institutions and that they are men of integrity who are capable of handling the election processes.

    He assured that the issue of late arrival of election materials to some polling units and wards have been taken care of, adding that 8,012 card readers had been dispatched for the elections.

    The REC said: “The card reader is election itself. No card reader, no voting. This is just to let you know that card reader operators were given refresher training.

    “We have 34,000 ad-hoc staff to conduct the elections, and out of this figure, 10,000 are members of the NYSC while the rest are from other higher institutions.

    “Our staff are people of high integrity who are capable of conducting the election process. We sourced them from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, so they are capable for the election jobs.”

    The Commissioner of Police said: “We have finished our deployments. We have banned food vendors from polling areas in order to stop them from the likelihood of accommodating vote-buyers.

    “We have ordered for a good number of helicopters to hover around the state during the election.

    “We will pick anybody wandering about without PVC and keep him or her where necessary until the election is over.

    “We have equally banned members of the vigilante from coming out with dangerous weapons during the election. In fact, we have arrested 34 of them so far. They look deadly.”

  • Guber poll: Arewa youths endorse El-Rufai

    Arewa Youth Forum (AYF) has endorsed the candidacy of Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, describing him as the best man for the job.

    The Kaduna State chapter of AYF, in a statement issued by its Coordinator, Abba Isma’il therefore called on youths to come out en-mass and vote for Governor Nasir El-Rufai of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    AYF said Governor El-Rufa’i has proven to be a leader that is courageous and employs rapid response strategy in tackling security challenges facing Kaduna state.

    The statement read that, “The Arewa Youth Forum (AYF) in implementing some of its core mandate of civic education, entrenchment of a value system of good governance, selfless leadership and wholesome delivery of Democracy dividends; commend Youths for being well behaved during the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly Election and expect us to do same in the forthcoming Governorship and states House of Assembly Election.

    “In this vein, we call on all AYF members in our structures in the 23 Local Government Areas and wards to unite, come out more than they did previously and massively vote for Governor, Mallam Nasiru El Rufa’i due to the realistic fact that he has proven to be a leader that is courageous and employs rapid response strategy in tackling security challenges facing Kaduna state.

    “He has provided exemplary governance and unsurpassed delivery of democracy dividends to every nook and cranny of Kaduna state. Infact, Governor Nasiru El Rufa’i is the Best man for the job and the Best candidate available.

    “This clarion call also goes to all youths, women and indeed residents of Kaduna state to exercise their franchise, come out peacefully and massively vote for Governor Mallam Nasiru El Rufa’i for continuity of visionary policies and delivery of democracy dividends for sustainable socio economic development of Kaduna state,” AYF said.

  • Guber poll: I’m still in the race — PDP candidate

    Factional governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Hon Ladi Adebutu yesterday allayed fears over a report in a section of the media credited to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which purportedly disowned him as candidate in the forthcoming election.

    In a statement issued yesterday and signed by his spokesman, Mr Afolabi Orekoya, Adebutu said the report credited to the National Commissioner for Information, Media and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, did not disown him, but was quoted out of context.

    The statement reads in part: ‘’Okoye was wrongly quoted by desperate and mischievous people who are only interested in misleading the public and cause confusion to the disadvantage of the People’s Democratic Party in Ogun State.

    ‘’Okoye only mentioned that INEC was obeying judgments of properly constituted courts of law as reason for publishing the names of candidates, and never mentioned Hon Ladi Adebutu’s name. But he failed to mention that INEC refused to act on an Appeal Court judgment that nullified the order that their decision was based on.

    ‘’The Appeal Court sitting  in Ibadan(Oyo state) on December 18,2018 had delivered a judgments  that nullified he order of a Federal High Court earlier given by Justice Alubarka  in Abeokuta, Ogun state, where it was affirmed that the party at the national level is vested with the sole right of presenting candidates to INEC.’’

  • Guber poll: APC group seeks 3 million votes for Sanwo-Olu

    A group, Babajide Olusola Sanwoolu Ambassadors (BOSA), has launched a campaign to garner three million votes for the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Lagos state gubernatorial race, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Speaking during the launch, convener of the group, Wale Arogundade, said the decision to work for the victory of the APC candidate was taken after a thorough appraisal of his plans for the state and the manifesto of the party.

    Explaining that the group is a coalition of 3,000 community-based and youth-driven organisations spread across the state, Arogundade said BOSA has appointed coordinators across the state to ensure that three million votes are secured for Sanwo-Olu ahead of the election. He said each ward in the state has a coordinator that has been trained to move from house-to-house and street-to-street in the campaign to ensure the victory of Sanwo-Olu.

    At the event attended by APC chieftains and members, the group distributed souvenirs and mandated their coordinators to be up and doing in the task of delivering the much needed votes to the APC candidate. “We have gone through the manifesto of Mr Sanwo-Olu. We are impressed. We are inspired that he will continue all capital projects. We are impressed that he will create more jobs, tackle electricity decline through new incentives and innovations and battle insecurity with greater zeal.

    “From Monday, we shall be visiting every street, market places, churches, mosques, the creeks and watersides to speak to the people of Lagos to support Sanwo-Olu. With a voters’ figure of 6.2million in Lagos, securing three million votes for Sanwo-Olu will definitely not be a difficult task. We call on all voters in Lagos to join us in this tall order. This is a task that must be fulfilled. This is a task we shall fulfil. We use this opportunity to call for a free and fair election in Lagos,” Arogundade said.

     

  • 2019 polls: I’m waiting to see my challenger, says Ishaku

    Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, has picked his nomination form in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying he is waiting to see the candidate other political parties will throw up to challenge him in next year’s guber poll.

    Special Adviser on Political Matters, Abubakar Bawa, the San Turaki Gashaka, who spoke at a press conference in Jalingo for the governor, after picking the nomination form on his behalf, said “there is nothing to worry about.”

    He said: “The governor is ready for whoever the oppositions will nominate to challenge him at the election. In 2015, the election was a two-horse race between the PDP and the APC. In the end, PDP won with a landslide.

    “PDP won because it presented the right candidate (Darius Ishaku). The same scenario seems to be playing out. We are only waiting to see the candidate APC will field this time around.”

    Bawa said, although, PDP is very democratic enough to welcome any governorship aspirant who may want to contest on the PDP platform, members however, have unanimously agreed that Ishaku should fly the party’s banner.

    The governor’s political adviser said: “I can advance many reasons why I am optimistic Ishaku will be reelected. None of the opposition parties, including APC which is the main opposition party in Taraba State, has a candidate that is better than Ishaku.”

    “There is no party that can withstand the PDP in Taraba State. The PDP is an opposition in the country, but in Taraba it is the ruling party. And it has been the ruling party since 1999. So, we believe there is no other political party here apart from the PDP. Even if there are other parties, we don’t take them serious.

    “Besides political parties, Taraba people want someone who naturally cares for them. And Darius Ishaku is the answer; he is one leader who has deep love and rare passion for Taraba people; how they eat, dwell and make progress bother him. For now, he is just the right person.

    “Therefore, in sha Allah (with God on our side), I think we will triumph at the poll, because of the governor’s performance and goodwill. I have been in politics in Taraba State for long so I know what I am talking about.

    “Recently, I went round the State to do a silent opinion poll, and the goodwill has been overwhelming for the governor. Nevertheless, the PDP is working hard. The party chairman, Victor Bala, and all his party executives, are leaving no stone unturned; the governor is doing his part –by providing developments; and we are working very hard and still soliciting support from the electorate to make sure we return the governor for a second term.

    Read Also: 2019: Imo APC adopts indirect Primaries

    “The general consensus is that Ishaku should do a second term. Rev. Jolly Nyame did 10 years from northern zone, from 1992-1993 and 1999-2007. Late Pharm. Danbaba Suntai, from central zone, did eight years (2007-2015). So the fairest thing to do, as it has become our zoning formula, is to allow Ishaku, who is from the southern zone, to also do eight years, to complete the rotation.

    “And to the best of my knowledge, the PDP stakeholders from his area (southern Taraba) have no other candidate. They have all agreed that Ishaku has done well. Bringing another person, even from the same southern zone, will affect our political arrangement.

    “The northern and central zones are also in full support of the arrangement to give Ishaku the party’s ticket and subsequently re-elect him for a second term.

    “In terms of performance, he has scored a distinction everyone can attest to. Ishaku has done well in education, agriculture, health, infrastructure and so many other areas. So, we are yet to see his challenger.”

  • Guber poll: Gani Adams acknowledges strategic position of Osun

    The Are Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Chief Gani Adams, has acknowledged the strategic position of Osun State in  Yoruba affairs.

    He said yesterday in Osogbo,the state capital,that he is interested in the September 22 governorship election because Yoruba interest is involved.

    He spoke at the IleriOluwa Campaign Organization, when he paid a courtesy visit  to the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola.

    Adams said he admired  the virtuous characters of the incumbent governor, Mr. Rauf Areegbesola and of Oyetola.

    He promised  support for the APC candidate because of “Yoruba interest.”

    He warned that the Yoruba agenda must not be politicized under any guise and for whatever reason.

    Responding, Oyetola expressed gratitude to Adams for the visit.

    He corroborated the strategic position of Osun in Yorubaland, saying values for which Yoruba are known must not be allowed to die.

    He promised to use his office when he becomes the governor to promote culture and tradition of the race.

    Oyetola maintained that he would ensure that the progress recorded by the Rauf Aregbesola in many sectors of the economy  does not suffer  a set back,adding that he would  break new grounds that would be the pride of the Yoruba .

  • Osun: Troubled PDP and the 2018 guber poll

    Osun: Troubled PDP and the 2018 guber poll

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State says it is determined to rout the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the next governorship election in the state. The said election is scheduled to hold next year. Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, examines the chances of the opposition party which is currently bogged down by fresh leadership crisis in the state

    THE forthcoming election, according to a timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will hold the 22nd of September, 2018. Incumbent Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s tenure ends in November 2018 and he will not be seeking re-election as he is currently serving his second term as the governor of the state.

    In spite of the fact that the election is still about one year away and election campaigns are not expected to commence until next April, going by INEC’s timetable, the battle to succeed Aregbesola is gathering momentum as aspirants jostle to position themselves in good stead for the gubernatorial tickets of the frontline political parties in the state ahead of the poll.

    Expectedly, the struggle for gubernatorial ticket is not less fierce in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where party leaders and stakeholders are reportedly shopping for an able and trusted flag-bearer who can help the PDP achieve its desire of returning to the seat of government in the state. Not a few among the chieftains of the party sees the next election as the best chance of the PDP to oust the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    It would be recalled that the PDP, which ruled the state between 2003 and 2010, lost control of Osun when incumbent Governor Aregbesola was declared as the validly elected governor by the Supreme Court, thereby ousting the then Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of the PDP. Efforts by the PDP to regain the state four years later proved abortive as Aregbesola won re-election.

    But the PDP, in spite of its unexpected loss of the presidency to the APC in 2015, and the crippling leadership crisis it went through afterwards, has left no one in doubt of its desire to return to power in Osun after the 2018 governorship election. Party leaders and members insist the state is a PDP state irrespective of what Aregbesola and the APC claim.

    This is without prejudice to the many factors that are expected to determine how the people of the state will vote at the polls next year. To start with, an unwritten zoning agreement in the state currently places Osun West senatorial district ahead of other zones in the quest to produce the next governor of the state after Aregbesola.

    The duo of Chief Bisi Akande and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who hail from Osun Central, were governors of the state between 1999 and 2010. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola from Osun East is the current governor and has spent eight years in office. Osun West, which produced the late Isiaka Adeleke way back in 1992, is angling to take the next turn.

    But there are those who feel that with the three senatorial zones having had a stint each at the governorship, the race should now be declared open for the rotation arrangement to start afresh. The PDP is yet to officially zone the position to any of the senatorial district as being canvassed by some of its chieftains and others outside the party.

    Bogged down by crisis

    But despite the desire of the party to return to government house in the state, the Osun State chapter of the PDP appears jinxed to remain in opposition for much longer. Close observers of happenings within the party say unless something urgent is done to heal the party of the renewed infighting amongst its chieftains, it is doubtful if it can defeat the ruling APC.

    Checks by The Nation revealed that the new crisis is caused by a scramble among leading gubernatorial aspirants of the party and their backers to control the party in the state. As a result, several attempts to hold a congress and put in place a state executive council for the party has been abortive following fierce disagreement among the emerging factions in the state PDP.

    The PDP in Osun State currently parades an array of governorship aspirants whose followers are scattered all over the state. Among those that are believed to be interested in governing the state in 2018 are Lere Oyewumi, a former federal legislator and chairman of Irewole Local Government, and Adejare Bello, ex Speaker and running-mate to the flag-bearer of the PDP in the 2014 guber election.

    Also in the race are Iyiola Omisore, deputy governor and flag-bearer of the PDP in the 2014 guber election; Adeola Adewopo, a lawyer, and Ikirun-born politician, Kayode Oduoye. There is also Fatai Akinbade, former gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party in the state who recently returned to the PDP along with his supporters.

    Speaking on the current trouble rocking the party, a chieftain of the PDP in Osun State, Chief Oluwole Oludaisi, in an open letter he recently wrote to national chairman of the party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, said the same ailments which made PDP lose the state to APC in 2010, have returned. According to him, there is need to save the party from some of its leaders in the state.

    “Only that this time around, the indiscretion, occasioned by leadership high-handedness, impunity and disregard for counsel, which have remained the greatest albatross of the PDP, a once-great party that prided itself on a promise to rule for 60-years, might finish off what is left of the party and its chances of returning to winning ways.

    The issues

    At the centre of the new scuffle is an order by the national leadership that a new congress be conducted to produce a new executive committee for the party in the state in spite of argument in some quarters that the Soji Adagunodo-led executive have won two consecutive elections between 2016 and now to emerge as the authentic leadership of PDP in the state.

    Those supporting Adagunodo accused Senator Omisore of influencing the national leadership through Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State to achieve his age-long aim of controlling the party in the state. Of course, the Omisore camp has denied having a hand in the failure of the caretaker committee to conclude the process of electing new leaders for the party in the state.

    “Though a majority of party loyalists in the state considered the order to conduct fresh congress as a miscarriage of justice, they were prepared to prove their commitment to the PDP. A caretaker committee led by Hon. Sarafadeen Ishola comprising equal membership of the two groups was set up and inaugurated, while new dates were fixed for ward, local and state congresses that were supposed to run between 21st of October through 4th November, 2017.

    “Participation in the congress include the purchase of delegates forms for congresses at the price of about N500,000 per local government, amounting to N15 million in the 30 local governments. But after people made that purchase, the caretaker committee led by Hon. Sarafa Ishola, allegedly acting on the instructions of the leadership from Abuja, arbitrarily decided that there would be no congress but harmonisation.

    “The warning, however, is that the path the PDP leadership is currently toeing in Osun will lead to no good. We all saw the result in 2014, when the party came a distant second in an election it should have won. With impunity and indiscretion currently on display in handling the situation in Osun PDP, we need no one to predict the outcome of future elections in the state. A word, as they say, is enough for the wise and it should be for Makarfi and his journey men, who have begun a voyage into impunity,” Oludaisi said.

    But a former factional chairman of PDP in the state, Bayo Faforiji, said all the allegations against Omisore and the caretaker committee are untrue. According to him, it is wrong for anybody to accuse the caretaker chairman, Sarafadeen Ishola, of bias. He said those who are crying foul are the people making things difficult for the committee.

    “Those claiming that the chairman is working for Omisore are not being fair. The chairman appointed neutral people to conduct congresses in the state but you know that politicians will always complain when an election does not go the way they expected. All the allegations against Omisore and the caretaker committee are untrue,” he said.

    Worried Makarfi

    Worried that the party in Osun State may not be doing enough to reposition itself ahead of the 2018 governorship contest, the National Chairman of the PDP, Ahmed Makarfi, has said chieftains and members of the party in the state need to unite and work together in order to rescue the state from the alleged misrule of the APC.

    Makarfi said this recently in Osogbo while pleading with party chiefs to unite and work together for the victory of the party at next year’s governorship election. On Wednesday evening, during a unity dinner and reception held in his honour, he said the victory of Senator Ademola Adeleke on July 8 was significant to the party, saying it offered the opposition party an opportunity to reinvent itself and return to power in the state in 2018.

    “Osun West showed the way for the PDP to reinvent itself. There is strength in our coming together. All of you contributed money for us to eat and to drink; that is good. If we go our different ways, we cannot make it. We must all come together to capture Osun State from the misrule of the APC. The people are looking up to the PDP to emancipate them from their suffering and that is why we must come together,” he begged.

    Party sources claim that the national leadership of the PDP may be reviewing the events unfolding within the Osun State chapter with a view to ensuring that it prevents a full blown crisis. The Nation learnt that a meeting with the caretaker committee and the various faction of the party in the state may soon be held at the instance of Senator Makarfi.

    “We cannot afford to leave the situation as it is in Osun State. The PDP stands a good chance of defeating APC next year at the governorship election in that state. All we need to do is put the state chapter of our party in order and ensure that whoever emerges as the governorship candidate of the party in the state, the whole party rally round him to achieve victory,” our source said.

  • Guber Poll: Anambra lawyers attack IPOB

    Guber Poll: Anambra lawyers attack IPOB

    •Accuse Kanu of breeding anarchy

    Some lawyers in Anambra State have warned the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to stop frightening people ahead of the November 18 governorship election.

    The lawyers under the aegis of Anambra State Lawyers in Defence of Democracy (ASLADD) appealed to Governor Willie Obiano and security operatives to deal decisively with the secessionists before things get out of hand.

    They accused IPOB and its leader of breeding anarchy by claiming the election will not hold, vowing not to fold their hands to allow any person or group of persons to destroy the system.

    Convener of the lawyer’s group, Johnmary Jideobi, in a letter to Obiano yesterday in Akwa pointed out IPOB had decided to introduce violence into the nation’s electoral process.

    The letter was entitled “The 2017 Anambra State governorship election and the imperative of ending the impunity of anarchists before it is too late”.

    According to them: “The fulcrum of this urgent letter is to express the way we feel by the strident opposition mounted by the IPOB to the conduct of the 2017 governorship election in Anambra state”

    ”We have chosen to write you on this, principally because we are involved. We are involved because we too are Anambrarians.

    “We are involved because democracy has come under imminent threat in our beloved state.

    ”We are involved because the future of every nation’s democracy lies on the shoulders of lawyers.

    “We are involved because lawyers are saddled with the sacred and abiding duties of enlightening the society, upholding the rule of law and defending our constitution, which is the most sacred document that holds our nation in balance and in being.

    ”We are involved because it is our incontestable right to contribute in defining and protecting the future in which we will live and raise our kids.

    “It is now clearly beyond any scintilla of argument that we have a legitimate interest in whatever plays out on the political scene of Anambra State of Nigeria.”

    The lawyers declared a boycott was an act of voluntary and intentional abstention as an expression of protest, usually for social, political, or environmental reasons.

    They added that if IPOB had stopped at directing its members to abstain from the polls, perhaps the present open letter would not have been of any use.

    ”But IPOB did not stop at that. It has now gone physical. In Onitsha, video evidence abound how IPOB members interrupted state activities where the governor went for a football tournament.

    “On another occasion, the governorship candidate of Progressives Peoples’ Alliance, PPA, Chief Godwin Ezemo, was confronted at a rally by members of IPOB.

    ”Only recently, the IPOB members invaded and desecrated St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Government Area, where Governor Obiano was to worship.

    “It is now clear that going further to disrupt electioneering processes like football tournaments, campaign rallies and invading and desecrating the sacred places of worship as witnessed in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Ekwulobia, are acts clearly outside the meaning of the word “boycott”

    “Those are acts of outlawry. They are forerunners of anarchy. Anarchy is antithetical to democracy.

    “Anarchists are anti-democratic forces that must be opposed, whether in Nigeria or Biafra land.”

    They added: “A people even have the right in every democracy to reject what is good for them. Advocates of election boycott must begin to learn, accept and live with this democratic truth.”

    ”We pray that those who are actively seeking to return our dear Anambra state to the wasteful and inglorious days in the state be dismayed and turned back because they are our enemies”

    “For seeking to precipitate anarchy in the state of the iconic departed supreme leader of Biafra Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, they are enemies of Biafra land.

    “They have no respect for the cherished memories of our departed supreme leader who in his matchless wisdom established APGA as a political party in the Nigerian Federation”

    “This is a party which IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu once headed its United Kingdom chapter and he has not told us what has changed between then and now.”

     

  • Osun: parties regroup ahead 2018 gov polls

    Osun: parties regroup ahead 2018 gov polls

    Political parties have started re-grouping ahead of 2018 Osun State governorship election.
    Chieftains of different political parties, including the Accord Party (AP), the Labour Party (LP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Action Alliance (AA), the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the Mega’s Peoples Party (MPP), some groups within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) yesterday gathered at the Oba Okunade Sijuwade Memorial Hall, in Ile-Ife to strategise.
    Speaking at the event, the chairman of the occasion, Hon. Bello Sulaimon, from the Labour Party, said the formation of the group was to “rescue” people of the state from the “untoward hardships” that had befallen the state through Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s All Progressives Congress-led administration and to wrestle power from the party in 2018 elections.
    Sulaimon, who insisted that the problem of poor economy must be combated headlong, charged people of the state to be united to vote “your oppressors out of power.”
    Also, former aspirant to the state House of Assembly in Osun East on the platform of Accord Party, Segun Ayodele Fanibe, called for unity among members of the newly formed group.
    According to him, with the power of unity, those who have battered and shattered the country’s economy would be chased out of power.
    In his own remark, the former Public Relations Officer of the PDP in the South-West but now a chieftain of the Labour Party in the state, Engr. Yinka Adigun, said the new group would transform to a political party in May.