The Nation Newspaper

Tag: impunity

  • Why PDP must check impunity, by Makarfi

    Why PDP must check impunity, by Makarfi

    The chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi has cautioned party members against the culture of impunity, for the party to make progress.

    Makarfi spoke at the party’s Abuja secretariat on Wednesday while receiving PDP stakeholders from Oyo and Osun state chapters.

    Warning against cutting corners to achieve ambitions, the party chair said such actions could be counterproductive, stressing that the culture of impunity was partly responsible for the party’s past crises.

    He said, “We must stop cutting corners. We live in a high litigious society. When we cut corners thinking that nobody will see you, a lot of people have seen you. At a time you least expect, somebody will drag you to court again. Therefore, what is worth doing is worth doing well”.

    Stating that internal wrangling could only weaken the PDP, Makarfi said nobody stands to gain from disunity.

    “We are not in politics to suffer but (to) form government. PDP was the dominant party but internal crisis caused us to lose election,” he added.

    He stressed the need to consolidate the party’s recent victory at the Supreme Court by doing the right thing all the time.

    Makarfi said, “Political victory means expanding the scope of the party, reconciling with the reconcilable and attracting members into the party that will enable us regain political power at the centre by overwhelming majority,” he stated.

    ‎”Some of us that have been occupied by power acquisition, whether they are in the party or they are contemplating to come into the party, ‎they are more glued to the acquisition of political power, that can derail the party.

    ‎”Let’s build a strong and virile political party. Let there be a level playing field for people to freely choose who they want to present as party’s candidates. That is the surest way to get to power come 2019. That is what internal democracy entails.

    ‎”While opening our doors wide to all and sundry, the party must be conscious that the structure must not be compromised in a way that diminishes the enthusiasm.

    “I will stick to the party guidelines and constitution in doing whatever we do. We must consult on fundamental issues, use consensus as much as ‎possible and move forward”.

    The party chairman assured the gathering of neutrality, objectivity and transparency in the running of the affairs of the party by entrenching the culture of inclusiveness.

    Makarfi enjoined those shopping for platforms to feed their political ambitions rather than building the party to have a rethink.

    He warned that failing to follow due process in resolving political issues could lead to litigation, which might eventually lead to crisis situation.

    Those at the meeting include Senators Iyiola Omisore, Akin Olasunkanmi, Chief Olu Alabi, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Senator Femi Lanlehin, Senator Hosea Agbooola among others.

    Some of the participants from Oyo state announced that they came to represent former Governors Adebayo Alao Akala and Rashidi Ladoja at the meeting.

  • Impunity writ large

    •NAF vs. Blue Boulevard

    The report that some Nigeria Air Force (NAF) personnel forcibly denied Blue Boulevard Limited, access to their multi-billion naira market and mall, legitimately operating within the NAF base, in Port Harcourt, is symptomatic of the excesses of our military, and we urge for a change in attitude. Thankfully, a Federal High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Hillary Oshomah, in a judgment, declared the invasion of the market and the barricade of its main entrance, as unlawful.

    In that case, while the appellate courts should be left to determine the rights of the parties, assuming the defendants wish to appeal, we consider it reprehensible for any of our nation’s security agencies to use the guns purchased to protect the country from external aggression, to engage in what amounts to self-help. In the words of Justice Oshomah: “It is beyond any iota of doubt that the defendant has taken laws into its hand by resorting to self-help. This conduct of the defendant is most condemnable and highly deprecated and should not be tolerated in any civilised society.”

    We join the judge in condemning the action of the Air Force personnel involved, and indeed any such use of security personnel and its arms to push any claim or right, instead of resort to court. That was the case with the NAF men, for even if the respondent has a legitimate claim, what is expected from it like every other citizen, is to approach the court to ventilate its claims, and allow the court make a pronouncement. If the claim is upheld, the court provides a means for parties to reap the benefits of a judgment, and in all that process, the use of military personnel as enforcer does not come into play.

    We believe the court sought to emphasise the fact that the NAF-armed personnel had no role in the dispute, when the judge held:”It is hereby declared by the order of this honourable court, that the continuous stay of the armed men of the 115 Special Operation Group, Nigerian Air Force, Port Harcourt, at the main entrance of the second applicant’s gate and within its premises on the order of the respondent is ultra vires, null and void and beyond the statutory duties of the respondent”.

    Now that the court has made its pronouncement, it will amount to contempt by the NAF to deny the claimants the fruits of the judgment, by employing its armed bearing personnel to frustrate the order of court. We urge the Chief of Air Staff to immediately order his men to obey the judgment, and where he fails the civilian authority supervising the force should call it to order. Furthermore, the Attorney-General of the Federation should be interested in ensuring that judgments of court against any federal establishment are duly obeyed.

    Ultimately, there is the need for our armed personnel to understand the need to be civil in their dealing with civil matters. The reorientation of the military to be submissive to civil authorities in matters that are not military is key to establishing an enduring democracy. While this type of aberration may be the hallmark of the military era, the leadership of the military must realise the need to re-orientate themselves and the rank and file; after all, eventually they retire into the same civil society.

    For emphasis, we restate the summary of the judgment: “The respondent is hereby directed to immediately withdraw its men stationed at the main gate and within the premises of the second applicant at NAF Base, Market Junction, Rumuomasi, Aba Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.”

  • ‘Assembly’s action is legislative impunity’

    The Special Assistant on Media to Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Mr Yinka Oyebode,

    said yesterday that the proposal to set up a judicial panel of enquiry into the financial transactions of the last administration was nothing but legislative impunity.

    He said in a statement that the decision of the lawmakers was not only ill-advised, but also reckless, considering that two suits about the purported probe were pending in court.

    “Simply put, the legislators’ attempt to institute a judicial panel or administrative panel, while the two cases involving the House of Assembly, its leadership and a top official of the present administration (in an Abuja High Court and Ado Ekiti Federal High Court) are yet to be determined is subjudice.

    “Sadly, this is a reflection of their poor knowledge of the law.

    “The lawmakers are advised to study the constitution properly and understand their roles as well as the limit of their power, as this desperate attempt to implicate the last administration is nothing but another wild goose chase,” Oyebode added.

  • ‘There is impunity in Rivers’

    ‘There is impunity in Rivers’

    On December 23, last year, the Court of Appeal ruled that Hon. Victoria Wobo Nyeche should be sworn-in as a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly representing Port-Harcourt 1 Constituency. On February 15, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain received her certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Up to now, she is yet to be sworn-in by the Speaker. In this interview with PRECIOUS DIKEWOHA, she speaks about her long walk to justice and other intrigues that have prevented her from taking her seat in the hallowed chamber.

    You won an election and you have not been sworn in; why?

    On April 11, 2015, the people of my constituency came out in their numbers and voted for me as their representative in the Rivers State House of Assembly and since then it has been a long walk to justice. First, we went to the tribunal and later to the Court of Appeal. By the mercy of God, on 23rd of December 2015, the Court of Appeal returned me as the duly elected member representing Port Harcourt Constituency 1. Since that 23rd of December 2015, until now, I am yet to be sworn in, and as we know, the Court of Appeal is the final court that has jurisdiction on the House of Assembly matters.  Even the Attorney-General of the Federation has written something to that effect, asking them to obey the order of the Court of Appeal. He wrote to the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the Attorney-General of the state as the chief law officer. But, it is unfortunate that the rule of law is not what we have observed in Rivers State. Give me reason why a court of competent jurisdiction will give order and that order will be ignored. Since then, we have had rerun and people that won have been swore in. When INEC issued me a certificate of return, I went to the assembly; it was there that the Speaker told me that they have an order from High Court ordering them to maintain status-quo. He was saying that the eight assembly is law-abiding, that they will stick to the decision of the court. Since December 2015, when I was declared the winner and on February when I was issued a certificate of return, I wrote to them that I have been issued a certificate of return, that I am available, but they ignored the letter. I remembered that a High Court Judge, Justice Enebele, informed the parties including, the Rivers State House of Assembly, who is a party in the suit that the ex-parte order only last for seven days. That, there was no reason whatsoever why I shouldn’t be sworn- in, and for my constituent, they thought that an end to the matter was. And I was wondering since then that I have been issued a certificate of return and they are giving me excuses. What is happening now is not about law, but unfortunate and undemocratic kind of politics that is playing out in Rivers State.  I wonder what their excuses would be. it is a reign of impunity and today, you hear them saying something about rerun election and the one that has been concluded since December, 2015, is yet to be implemented. At the end of the day, my people has spoken that I should represent them. But, Rivers State government is showing that they are certainly not democratic.

    Who is blocking your swearing-in?

    The stumbling block is the Speaker,  Adams Dabotoru. It is a constitutional duty he ought to have performed. He is giving excuses. Of course, the people of Port Harcourt Constituency 1 are law abiding. They have carried out peaceful protest. The last time they did, a day before the protest, the PDP supporters claimed that they wanted to pay solidarity visit to the Speaker, maybe, for not being law abiding because this is an  Assembly that is up to one year now  and they have not passed up to five bills. So, what is there that they are congratulating him for, apart from the fact that he has failed to perform his duty as a speaker? If not for the intervention of the police, it would have been a bloody clash. We were matching peacefully, and they were also there. According to the Speaker, they have all its takes to match the police fire for fire. So, you need to imagine how armed or unarmed they were to match the police fire for fire.

    You are the only female elected member and you have not been sworn-in. Do you think that the government is gender sensitive? 

    For me, actions speaks louder than words. It is easy to say we are gender sensitive, we promote the affair of women, but it is wrong when you carry out action that is contrary to your word. This is because if you have a government that is sensitive to women you will know.  APC is the only party that filled two women in the Rivers State House of Assembly. In fact, no woman emerged as PDP candidate in the House of Assembly to the best of my knowledge. When you say you are sensitive may be in the executive and judiciary and it was not applied in the legislature. And if you want to be fair and positive to gender sensitivity it must be applied in all area. And moreover, we have a woman that is not just a woman but someone that is performing. I made bold to say that as a member of the seventh assembly I received an award from my colleagues as the most outstanding member. This is an award that was given to me by my colleagues, not all those awards will get from the roadside. If my colleagues have recognized that I am outstanding and my constituency has said I should represent them, for me it is the time for the government to actually show by their action. Let me inform you that the APC is more gender friendly, for me I certainly will not agree that this government under the leadership of Governor Nyesom Wike is gender sensitive.

    Your absence at the Assembly has created a vacuum…

    For us,  we need to pass the laws that will improve the lot of our women, which will improves the lot of family and that of the society. And these can only be achieved through lobbying and cooperation; it is something one person cannot do. That is why I feel saddened about what is happing in Rivers State. That tells you that we need statesmen and women who would rise above self. We need people who would put the people and their constituents first. We need people who would do the right thing. But unfortunately we are yet to see anyone.

    With what is happening, are you considering calling on the National Assembly to intervene on this matter.

    We have already written to the National Assembly. both the Speaker of National House of Representative and the President of Senate are aware of this matter. we have written to them. And we are expecting them to act and to call the Rivers State House of Assembly to do the proper thing. Because the constitution provides that, where the state Assembly cannot perform a certain duty, the National Assembly should assist. I think that is what I will do. I will present myself to the National assembly for swearing-in because it appear there are forces beyond their control to perform the duty.

    This trouble started when they accused you of impersonation. What really happened?

    As a lawmaker I have to be law-abiding, though I have decided not to talk on this matter because the issue is in the court. At the same time I have to put the record straight. What makes you a member of the house is when you are elected by the majority of the lawful vote. It is not the swearing in that makes you a member of the house. If you are not a member of the house you cannot be elected as Speaker or Deputy Speaker. The constitution has made it clear that a member can be elected as speaker or deputy speaker even before the swearing in. As I speak to you now, I am a member of the house, people use to say member –elect,  I have read the constitution but I am yet to see where it  was written as member-elect.  I have not seen that word in the constitution, what I have seen is member and that member can take part in the election of the speaker even before the swearing-in. Even when I wrote to the assembly for them to swear me in yet they refused to swear me in, instead what they did was to be holding PDP cuscus meeting. When they purportedly claimed to have screened the chief judge and they did not invite me to their sitting.  We wrote to the chairman of National judicial commission (NJC) because, the head of the judiciary in Rivers State which is the Chief Judge should be protecting that institution of judiciary. So, in a situation where the chief judge of a state will be screened by less than 10 person it was the against the letter and the spirit of the constitution.  So I wrote as a member of the house not as the speaker of the house, I was writing in the capacity as a member that was elected to represent Port Harcourt Constituency 1.  And I stated it clearly that I was elected, but I am yet to be sworn in, nothing in that letter that said I was acting on behalf of the house or that I was sworn in. there was nothing fraudulent about the letter.  When you talk about impersonation, it is a criminal offence and it is only the police that can prosecute criminal offence even if an individual want to prosecute criminal offence you must have a fiat to do so. And you cannot have Mr. Living storm Weche to prosecute a criminal offence, now who are mine  impersonating, are mine impersonating myself, the law says I am a member of the house, I  cannot impersonate myself, I  was expecting the  NJC to intervene on this matter.

    Why did you visit the House of Assembly recently?

    I was contacted that the Assembly was waiting for me. Though I wrote to them before I got a call that the House was waiting for me. Though I was mindful, based on my past experiences. When I got to the house there was a motion at the floor of the House, I sat quietly. Later, I told the Sergeant at Arms that he should inform the Speaker that I was around.  They went for a closed door meeting, came back and adjourned; even the Speaker did not recognise my presence. In a normal circumstance, even as a former member, your presence must be recognised.

    Is it because of your relationship with the former governor that you are being treated this way?

    I don’t know, I can’t be sure of what is their problem, I reluctantly conclude that they are afraid of me because of my relationship with my leader, the former Governor of Rivers State, who is now the honorable Minister  of Transportation. But I am a member of APC and there is no going back

    How would you relate with your colleagues if at the end you surpass the hurdle?

    This is one of the prices of leadership, as a leader you don’t expect everything to go freely, practical is different from theory. I have learnt to work with difficult people. I believe that I will work well with my colleagues; I am not going to allow this hamper my relationship with them. In democracy it is all about team work, I will do my best, I am looking forward to do the assignment which my people elected me to do.

  • Peterside: era of impunity has ended in Rivers

    Peterside: era of impunity has ended in Rivers

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State in last year’s general election, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has said impunity by the Nyesom Wike-led administration in the state has ended.

    Peterside, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), spoke at the weekend during a thanksgiving/grand reception in honour of a former Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government Area, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, at Buguma, the local government’s headquarters.

    Flag-Amachree, a chieftain of the APC, was on November 24 granted bail by the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt for alleged murder charge by the Rivers State Government.

    The politician was released from the Port Harcourt Prisons on November 25, after almost eight months in captivity (from April 20) in what most people described as politically motivated.

    Peterside, a former member of the House of Representatives, likened what was happening in Rivers State to the period of King Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible, where children of God were constantly subjected to various forms of indignity, until God showed His mightiness.

    The APC chieftain berated Wike, who he said was behaving like an emperor with conquered people.

    He said: “Today, individuals are boasting that they can pick anybody, put them in detention. They are boasting that by their power, they became leaders. They are boasting that by their power, they conquered everybody and that by their power, they will shut everybody’s mouth in Rivers State.

    “The people of Asari-Toru Local Government Area, go and tell them that the Almighty God, who said to King Nebuchadnezzar that the end had come, has said to them that their end has come.

    “The end of impunity in this land has come. The era of arresting an innocent man, put him in detention and go about boasting that they kept Ojukaye behind bars is gone. The era when they said Ojukaye would not see the light of the day, that Ojukaye would not witness the next election and Ojukaye would not vote for APC in the next election, has ended.

    “It shows that they have no power. The power is with Almighty God. And because we are the people of God, because we know that God will always triumph over Satan, light will always triumph over darkness, this is the time to vote with boldness and courage. This is because we are the children of the Almighty God. They can talk, they can threaten. We know that their power will come to nothing.”

    He added: “On December 10, as we go to cast our votes, let us know that we have the Holy Spirit behind us. We have the people of Asari-Toru Local Government Area behind us. We know we have the people of Rivers State behind us. God is giving us one more opportunity to liberate ourselves. Cast your votes for the liberation of our people. Vote for the candidates of the APC.

    “The era of threatening electoral officials, the people of Rivers State and the people Asari-Toru Local Government Area is gone. We will not rig any election and we shall win. The fact that Ojukaye was released is a sign that they have lost the election.”

    Flag-Amachree thanked APC leaders, residents of Asari-Toru Local Government Area and party members who honoured him.

    The politician assured that he remained a committed member of the APC, despite the alleged threats from Wike and his allies.

  • Of corruption and impunity

    Conventional morality is absolute: a thief is a thief, and an outlaw to boot. There are very few mitigating circumstances to make a thief into a hero, as in the mould of British folklore legend, Robin Hood, who robbed the rich aggressively just to provide for the needy poor. If a thief is duly proven to be one, he justifiably becomes the butt of society’s rage and opprobrium. He stands condemned and consigned to the thresher of societal amorality.

    But justice requires that a thief be sufficiently proven as one, to be rightly condemned and crucified – metaphorically, I mean. Short of discharging the burden of proof, condemning and crucifying a purported thief could be tantamount to the notorious witch-hunts of early Modern Europe when all it required to literally burn an adversary – even an innocent one – at the stakes was to publicly accuse him or her of sorcery, and consequently instigate mob hysteria and moral outrage in the public that would see such a one haplessly through to being frantically lighted up on erected stakes, with scant opportunity allowed for being heard in self-defence.

    Corruption is a reprehensible violation of societal moral ethic, and a particularly destructive cancer in the history of the Nigerian nationhood. But while we mustn’t countenance indulging this insidious violation, care must be taken as well not to idly savage reputations as would amount to modern-day witch-hunts in our quest for justice. Perhaps that is why the provisions of contemporary law presume innocence, sometimes assly so, even for obvious rogues until they are proven guilty.

    Unfortunately, the issue of judges lately accused of corruption in the Nigerian judiciary seems to me rapidly unfolding as a mutual witch-hunt between the accused persons on the one hand and their accuser, the Muhammadu Buhari administration, on the other. The judges’ homes were raided some fortnight ago by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), who eventually afforded the public a rare insight into veritable cash vaults that their Lordships’ homes had become. In carrying out their mission, the DSS operatives struck Gestapo-style in the dead of night, broke down walls and pulled doors off their hinges to execute search warrants that were to uncover mind-boggling cash piles in local and foreign currencies, among other things, before they hauled eight judges off into detention. Among those arrested were two Supreme Court justices. The security operatives were alleged to have also terrorized family members of the targeted judges.

    There have been furious questions about the propriety of the procedure adopted by DSS operatives in executing their mission, especially in view of constitutional stipulation of separation of powers between the different arms of government and the dispensational context, namely a democracy. Let me be very clear here: I raise those questions strongly myself. Civil liberty is endangered when arms-wielding security agents invade homes of unarmed citizens in the dead of night and haul them into detention on mere suspicion that those citizens were involved in whatever crime. This is not a martial state. Whatever happened to statutory presumption of innocence until guilt is proven? Some have argued that a good number of citizens had been victims of lawless security culture, and judges who have corruption cases to answer should not be treated any different. But democratization of lawlessness does not make the lawless act lawful, neither does compounding impunity relieve the aberration against collective morality. Everyone as they say is equal before the law, not necessarily so before a travesty of the law.

    Few persons would, however, dispute the urgent imperative of tackling the cancer of corruption in the Nigerian Judiciary. Citizens are largely agreed that there are corrupt judges in that hallowed institution, a reality that recommends drastic remedial intervention. And it seems fairly in consensus that the National Judicial Council (NJC), which is empowered by law to discipline erring judges, is notoriously lame in doing just that. Some persons would argue that the NJC’s feebleness is by conscious design, though it well seems a case of genuine inadequacy of the council’s enabling statutes. Whichever it is, public frustration with the NJC appears fairly widespread, and so, not a few cheered the desecration of the Judiciary by impudent security operatives when they raided the judges’ home and herded them into detention.

    Here, for me, is the catch though: more than two weeks after, the factors involved in the crackdown against accused judges seem rather hazy. There has been a good dose of recriminations between the Judiciary and the DSS ever since, but the accused judges have been proven neither guilty nor innocent. They were allowed back home on administrative bail many hours after their arrest, and they are yet to be arraigned for prosecution on clearly articulated charges. You would think the DSS already had its cases wrapped up for prosecution when it moved against the judges, only we now hear investigations are still ongoing and specific charges yet being unraveled. So, on what ground was the crackdown?

    But the state of indeterminacy has not constrained character arsonists, leading Justice officials of the Executive arm among them, from preemptive media trial of the judges and strident calls for their pre-trial sanction. The accused judges, for their part, have shaken off the time-honoured tradition of reticence and are bandying counter-accusations against the Executive, ranging from alleged persecution for duly considered verdicts that did not favour the government, to victimization for outright rebuff of brazen overtures to bribe their Lordships. They are invoking specific names, including that of Mr. President, and suggesting corroboration by named actors including the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). See the mutual witch-hunt?

    My guess is that the government delays in dragging the accused judges before the law partly because the DSS took a blind leap with its bullish raid on the judges’ homes two weeks ago. I have been informed by senior lawyers, who should know, that the DSS is not a prosecuting agency like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for instance. Many Nigerians have questioned whether the mandate of the DSS, as spelt out by its enabling law, includes waging civil anti-graft operations. And I dare say it is worse that the Department undertook a solo crackdown against accused judges that it has no statutory powers to prosecute, yet it did not take enabled prosecuting agencies like the EFCC on board. Apparently, the government must now devise a peculiar arrangement outside the DSS to take the accused judges before the law. And that, obviously, requires some time.

    Another factor is that the ground on which to push the judges’ prosecution seems effectively shifty, as the collectively indicted Judiciary is also the official adjudicator in the impending cases. There is the time-honoured sanctity of professional ethic of judicial practice, and I am not suggesting that the institution would throw such ethic overboard just because some of its own are in the dock. But where is the neutrality that should inform the dispassion of the arbiter?

    That is the reason I consider it awkward that many of their Lordships who have been accused of corruption remain on the Bench, while their investigation and eventual prosecution pend and they are only out on administrative bail. Only last week, one of the judges presided over a number of suits and later stood down when the case involving former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki, who is being prosecuted by the EFCC but is held in defiance of court orders by the DSS, came up for hearing. I just wonder: how does it feel for an accused person to stand before a judge who himself is an accused person only out on bail? Even if the NJC would not suspend them, personal honour and professional integrity demand that their Lordships step down from the Bench until the allegations against them are proven one way or the other.

  • PDP leader blames Anenih’s impunity for party’s loss

    PDP leader blames Anenih’s impunity for party’s loss

    • Says former minister played God

    •.Hails Obaseki for victory

    A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Senator Roland Owie, is not on the same page with other leaders of the party on the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Mr.Godwin Obaseki, in Wednesday’s governorship election.

    While the generality of PDP leaders have alleged manipulation of the election result in favour of the APC, Owie, Senate  Chief Whip in the Second Republic and PDP elder in the state, said Obaseki deserved victory.

    He said the PDP  could not have won with the way former Minister of Works, Chief Tony Anenih,  was playing god and imposing candidates at will.

    Anenih, he said, was wrong “to impose the deputy governor slot on Esan people after what he did with the governorship slot.”

    Anenih is from Uromi in Esanland.

    Continuing, Owie said: “Any leader who takes political decisions on selfish interests gets destroyed at the end. Such leader is like a spider. Whatever a spider eats turns to poison.

    “Why on earth will Chief Anenih impose a deputy governor on Esan people after what he did with the governorship slot?

    “He has been playing god and now God has told him that all powers belong to God.”

    He was even more damning in his assessment of the votes garnered by the PDP in the election.

    His words: “The higher percentage of the votes our PDP got in this election were votes against hunger and hardship brought by the APC federal government and not for the PDP.”

    “I hope Chief Anenih will enter his house now and allow people of goodwill to re-organise the PDP. I congratulate Godwin Obaseki and not the APC, because there is hunger and hardship in the land.”

    Chief Anenih, who is fondly called Mr. Fix-it by his admirers on account of his political dexterity, is the PDP leader in the state.

    Soon after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr. Obaseki winner on Thursday, Governor Adams Oshiomhole  named Anenih as one of the political godfathers humbled by the APC victory.

    He said: “In Esanland, the senatorial zone of the PDP godfather, we won two out of the five local governments.

    “We gave  him a fight that he managed to escape. He used the factor of his age to play on the emotion of the people.

    “Edo people are now proud they can now determine who rules them and no one godfather can choose a leader for them.”

  • There’s impunity in PDP, says Kashamu

    There’s impunity in PDP, says Kashamu

    Senator Buruji Kashamu has urged leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to kill the impunity within if the party is to survive.

    Kashamu, in a statement yesterday, said the impunity and illegalities “in our dear party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), evoke memories of a conundrum during the reign of King Solomon that almost led to the mutilation of an innocent child”.

    He added: “In that legendry tale of two women who shared a common space with their children, one of them had crushed her own child while they slept and the other was dragged into a dispute that put her child’s life at the mercy of the king’s sword. The mother of the dead child was eager to see the disputed child mutilated because she had nothing to lose while the actual mother would rather go without the child than allow it to be divided by the sword.

    “The moral here is that it is only those who truly have nothing to lose that are selfishly subversive and destructive; the people undermining the sanctity of the political fraternity in the PDP are those at the twilight of their political journey. They know that they have deficits with posterity, so, they are unscrupulously trying to rewrite their destinies at the expense of the collective good of all those who do have viable stakes in our political journey.

    They are using acts of felony to attain what they cannot win through legitimate political processes. The days of voodoo politics are over; the people know and are willing to stand with only those who, by their antecedent, have proven they are indeed in politics to serve their people. Thus, because the electorate has demonstrated its resolve to punish self-serving leaders, who fail to deliver the dividends of democracy, these political hyenas, whose political fortunes have now been relegated to the bottom of the food chain, are threatening to ravage the party to extinction. In the bid to foist their selfish agenda on the whole, illegality and impunity have become the order of day and these acts have been embedded in the fabric of our co-existence like landmines waiting to be exploded.”

    Kashamu continued: “A leader is supposed to be worthy of that highly coveted mount on the pedestal and deserving of the confidence of the people who have entrusted their mandate and lives into his hands. Millions of party members agreed to follow someone whom they see as a leader to Port Harcourt. It was incumbent on such a leader to rise above the fray and not betray the trust reposed in him.

     

  • Convention of impunity

    SIR: Unlike behemoth political parties in other climes driven by the tenets of rule of law and exemplary values essential for the emergence of a viable nationhood, PDP has once again added a new twist to its penchant for lawlessness, stereotype of greed and an overweening desire to capture power at all costs.

    A new chapter of judicial skulduggery has been unfolded with a high court judge contradicting, reversing and assuming appellate status over earlier pronouncement of a court of coordinate jurisdiction. This is novel in the Nigerian political diary of disingenuous escapades leaving reflective citizens in utter bewilderment.

    PDP is bent on conducting a convention that is a nullity in the face of legal scrutiny because when the chips are down, the Port Harcourt court cannot deliver the party from the judicial contempt awaiting it at the Court of Appeal thereby rendering the whole convention nugatory.

    Whereas the party wilfully selected Ali Modu Sheriff as its chairman against all interdictions of common sense, a misadventure purportedly executed by Governor Ayodele Fayose and Governor Olusegun Mimiko in their desperate vice presidential bids, this does not remove Sheriff’s fundamental right to seek judicial redress.

    As the convention preliminaries have taken off with screening of candidates in total defilement of the laws of the land, Nigerians must be left askance at the ability of PDP to play a credible opposition politics not to talk of taking power in 2019 as its leading lights are boasting without any introspection.

    The NJC must step in to halt the aberration before it fosters an irreversible judicial anarchy and dilute the nation’s jurisprudential precedence.

     

    • Bukola Ajisola,

    Victoria Island, Lagos.

  • PDP Convention: Mark warns against impunity, imposition

    PDP Convention: Mark warns against impunity, imposition

    A head of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, former Senate President David Mark, yesterday, cautioned party leaders to guard against impunity or imposition of candidates.

    Mark recalled that the defeat of the PDP in the general election was self inflicted on account of imposition of candidates and impunity.

    A statement by his Media assistant said the former Senate president spoke at a meeting with executive members of the Benue State chapter of the PDP in Otukpo.

    It said Mark noted that “it is incumbent on our leaders and members to allow the popular will of the people prevail at the congresses and convention.”

    The statement said Mark urged PDP members to remain steadfast, just as he frowned against defections  at will because of the challenges.

    Mark stressed that such inconsistencies neither enhances the democratic culture nor the integrity or credibility of politicians who defect.

    He said: “ If we must uphold the sanctity of democratic culture, we must follow the path of honour like the Democrats and Republicans in the United States of America or the Labour Party or the Conservatives in the United Kingdom, who hold on to their political ideologies, no matter the odds”.

    Mark restated that no matter the challenges, he will not leave the PDP, a platform he said afforded him the opportunity to contest and win elections since 1999.

    He reminded party faithful to work hard in the days ahead as credible opposition and overcome the challenges.

    The statement noted that Chairman of the state party, John Ngbede, who briefed Mark about affairs of the party, said the party now works as one family.

    It said Ngbede listed one of their challenges as cash, and appealed to Mark to help address the issue.