Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate Alhaji Fatai Akinbade has condemned promoters of “stomach infrastructure”, accusing them of introducing a dangerous trend into the polity.
Akinbade, who spoke at his campaign rally in Osogbo, the state capital, noted that good governance and programmes were antidotes against “stomach infrastructure.”
The National Chairman, Labour Party (LP), Mr Dan Nwanyanwu has expressed confidence in the ability of National Conference to offer solutions to the various challenges confronting Nigeria.
Nwanyanwu said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said that his confidence was anchored on the calibre of the people selected for the conference saying that it was an indication of Federal Government’s commitment to national advancement.
The LP boss also expressed delight over the number of political parties, including LP that heeded the call by the president to be part of the conference
“The invited parties have embraced the conference, it does not matter if one party did not send its delegates,” he said.
On the forthcoming governorship polls in Ekiti, slated for June 21, Nwanyanwu expressed optimism that his party would win the election.
He said that his optimism was “because politicians from other major parities in the state are joining the LP as a better option.”
The national chairman, however, urged INEC to ensure that the poll is not only hitch-free but also free, fair and transparent.
He said by doing so, the commission would have restored the confidence of the electorate in the electoral process.
“Many people expect INEC to have gone beyond its shortcomings in the Anambra governorship election, to better its performance in other elections.’’
The chairman added that the Ekiti polls and subsequently Osun would enhance people’s trust in INEC to conduct the 2015 general elections.
There are rumbles over alleged plans of the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, to perpetuate himself in office, reports Assistant Editor Dare Odufowokan
The Labour Party (LP) which prides itself as the party to watch in the forthcoming 2015 general election, especially in the South-West geo-political zone, has been very much in the news lately due to what could best be described as a brewing internal crisis.
The LP that has in recent times seen a number of aggrieved leaders of other political parties moving into its camp ahead of the 2015 general election, is currently afflicted by internal dissension over an alleged plan by its National Chairman, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, to seek a third term in office.
According to reports, majority of the members of the National Executive Committee of the party are opposed to Nwanyanwu’s alleged bid to remain in office beyond December 19, 2013, when his second term in office will expire.
And while the embattled party boss is busy struggling to woo his fellow executive committee members to his side, party sources claim Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, his leading ally within the party, may have decided against a third term for Nwanyanwu.
Mimiko is the only governor elected on the platform of the Labour Party and Ondo State is the only state where the party boasts of national assembly members as well as a majority in the state’s House of Assembly.
Analysts say a decision by the governor to oppose the LP chairman’s bid for a third term will end the political romance that has existed between the duo since 2007 when Mimiko dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to fly the banner of the LP in the Ondo State governorship election.
But sources say the governor may have simply chosen to support what appears to be a popular decision within the party. According to a political associate of the governor and LP chieftain in Ondo South Senatorial District, it is not just a personal decision of the governor, but a popular opinion among party leaders and members nationwide.
The LP chieftain, who sought anonymity while speaking to The Nation during the week in Akure, said a third term for Nwanyanwu will portray the party in bad light before the electorate.
“The governor still sees the chairman as a friend and dependable political ally. But it has become very important for him as a leader of the party, not only in Ondo State but nationally, to listen to the wishes of party members across the states and ensure that their desires are met.
It is obvious that our members are not in support of a third term for Chief Nwanyanwu. While we readily admit that he had led the party well, we are conscious of what our opponents will say should we allow him to sit tight at the helms of affairs.
“It is not the leaders or members of LP here in Ondo State that are saying this. It is the popular opinion within our party. That perhaps will explain why the governor may also be opposed to his continuing in office beyond December 19, 2013.
“Even members of the national executive committee are opposed to his bid for a third term. It is not because he has failed to perform but because LP is not a party without capable leaders. It is our view that he should step aside for us to showcase another person’s capability to lead the party,” he said.
The Nation gathered that though the Ondo State governor is yet to publicly declare his opposition to Nwanyanwu’s bid,he has allegedly told party functionaries on a number of occasions of his position on the issue.
“Recently, the governor, while urging leaders of the party to prevent any crisis from weakening the party, said it is not compulsory that one person should continue to lead the party. He asked all those concerned to go and seek an amicable solution to the problem.
The governor is also of the opinion that it is wrong for the party not to call a national convention four years after the last one. He has suggested that the leadership of the party should put machineries in motion for one before the end of the year,” another party source revealed.
Earlier, LP’s Deputy National Secretary, Babatunde Ayelabola, has publicly warned Nwanyanwu against throwing the party into confusion by seeking to extend his stay as its National Chairman.
In a letter dated October 9, 2013 and made available to journalists, Ayelabola said by December 19, it would be four years since Nwanyanwu was returned for a second term at the party’s second convention, having been elected in February 2004 at LP’s first convention
Ayelabola expressed concern that two months to the expiration of Nwanyanwu’s tenure, there was no sign that the LP would call a third convention. This, according to him, is suggestive of a bid by the Chairman to perpetrate himself in office.
“You should leave when the ovation is loudest and with your track record intact. There will always be sycophants who will egg you on at the detriment of your good name. They are like the sirens to Odysseus and are best kept at bay,” Ayelabola said.
The Nation also learnt that aside from the opposition to the continuation in office by the current chairman, another issue brewing crisis in the party is the call for the zoning of the chairmanship to a particular section of the country.
According to party sources, there is a growing agitation that the position of national chairman of the party should move to another zone when the second term in office by Nwanyanwu, from the south-east, ends in December.
“Like you find when the issue is an elective office anywhere in the country, there is already an agitation by a particular section of the country that they be allowed to produce the next national chairman of our great party.
The party is, however, yet to even consider the agitation or zone the position to any section. What we are concerned about now is how to ensure that this succession issue does not precipitate a serious crisis within our ranks. This is the build up to a general election and the LP want to surprise our opponents ahead 2015. So, we want to avoid all forms of distractions,” another party source said.
This is just as reliable sources said the embattled National Chairman is unrelenting in his bid to secure another term in office. According to party sources, Nwanyanwu has embarked on a move to douse opposition to his bid.
“He is not giving up on his bid in spite of the now public opposition by notable party leaders and members. Rather, he has come all out to counter the move to stop him. Recently, he met with members of the national executive committee and sought their understanding on the matter.
“In fairness to our chairman, he has very good reasons for wanting to remain in office at least till the next general election in 2015. One of his reasons is the need to build on the gains of the last couple of years by winning in some more states at the next election.
He is the one known to many of the people defecting to our party across the country. He is the one assuring them that they will be well treated within the LP. He is the one talking to those who are yet to publicly decamp but already co-operating with us.
So, it is an opinion that he should be allowed to finish what he is doing by 2015 before the party thinks of changing guards. A change before 2015 may affect us badly as a party. That is why some of us were convinced on the need to listen to his pleas,” a member of the executive committee from Abia State said.
But Ayelabola disagrees completely with the above position. According to him, there are numerous other ways the party can continue to benefit from the activities and experience of the chairman even when he is no longer in office.
“There are ways the party could continue to tap from your experience and goodwill. It is in this light that I proposed that a Board of Trustees (BoT) could be constituted where you could continue as a leader – if you so choose – and if it is democratically assented to by the party,” he suggested.
Aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Party (APC) chieftains in the Southwest are courting the Labour Party (LP) as part of their calculations for power in 2015, reports MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE.
The Labour Party (LP) came into existence in 2002. For five years, it was a nominal party on the register of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Although LP is perceived as a progressive party with a mass appeal, there is no evidence that workers have even embraced it as an exclusive political platform.
However, in 2007, the party bounced into reckoning in Ondo State. The PDP defector, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who became its governorship candidate, defeated former Governor Olusegun Agagu. Since then, aggrieved politicians from the PDP have been seeking refuge in the minor party.
As the polity prepares for 2015, LP appears to have become the alternative platform for politicians as ‘Plan B’. In Ekiti State, sources said that the supporters of the House of Representatives member, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, have opened talks with the LP leadership. The former Lagos State Information Commissioner has declared his interest in the governorship. But the coast is not clear in the ruling APC.
In Ogun State, the former PDP chieftains loyal for former Governor Gbenga Daniel have defected to the LP from the mushroom party, the PPN. In Oyo, Osun, and Lagos states, LP also exists on paper. However, whenever crises his the major parties, LP’s prospects are boosted.
However, for now, the success of the LP is limited to Ondo State. Apart from recovering its stolen mandate from the PDP, Mimiko won a re-election last year.
From its poor showing in the 2007 parliamentary election, where it won a seat in the House of Representatives, LP now has two senators and seven members in the Lower House.
Senator Ajayi Boroffice, who defected from the LP to the ACN, described LP as a child of necessity and product of political expediency. Boroffice said: “The party is a child of circumstance and people have actually said that it was not actually a party, but a platform created out of necessity for Mimiko to declare his intention to run as governor.”
A similar circumstance shaped the destiny of the party in Ekiti in 2011. Politicians who were edged out of the parliamentary primaries in Ekiti PDP turned to the LP for survival. They were led by former Governor Ayo Fayose, who contested for the Senate in the Ekiti Central District. They however, crashed at the polls.
On 2011, a section of the ACN backing Governor Babatunde Fashola for a second term, also gravitated to the direction of the LP, thinking that the governor may be edged out of the nomination process. Some commissioners, special advisers and other functionaries became emissaries between the LP and the governor’s camp. They were later relieved of their posts for disloyalty and anti-party activities.
It appears that the Southwest has not treated the LP like a leper. Observers point out that it may have survived the broom revolution in Ondo State because the ACN and LP appear to be united in character. In fact, between 2007 and 2009, prominent ACN leaders fought for the restoration of Mimiko’s mandate in the court
The game changed during the governorship poll in Ondo last year. The PDP tacitly supported the LP to prevent the growing influence of the ACN. The perception is that ‘Mimiko is LP in Akure and PDP in Abuja’. In fact, PDP leaders, including Chief Segun Adegoke, have said that the party was wooing the governor to retrace his steps.
Sources said that, although Mimiko has not formally defected to the PDP, he is a close ally of President Goodluck Jonathan. The LP governor supported the President’s candidate for the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) chairmanship, Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang, against Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who won the election.
However, outside Ondo State, LP is in the cold. Before the 2011 rebellion in the ACN, there was a failed attempt to promote the LP in Lagos. Former Deputy Governor Olufemi Pedro ran to the party in frustration in 2007, following the emergence of Fashola as the AC governorship candidate. He contested as the governor, but without success. When he lost his deposit at the poll, he defected to the PDP after the election.
Recently, it was speculated that Lagos politician Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who had rejected overtures from the PDP, was considering the option of defecting to the LP. His associates explained that his membership of the LP, if he eventually declares for the party, may not mock his antecedent as a progressive politician. Despite the electoral misfortune that has trailed his political career, Agbaje has fans among the masses.
Ahead of 2015, LP is warming up. But it is not certain that it will eventually make a mark because it is a ‘fall back party”. In 2011, LP came third in Ogun State. Since then, nothing has been heard about its former governorship candidate, Rev. Jide Awosedo. When the APC chieftain, Alhaji Rafiu Ogunleye, wanted to defect to the LP, his supporters faulted the calculation, saying that PDP was better.
However, sources said that Daniel is working assiduously to re-build the party. His wife, Mrs. Olufunke Daniel, was the chief launcher at the party’s N100 million empowerment programme organised by the LP women’s wing.
In Osun State, the LP has inaugurated a 10-man congress committee headed by Chief Daniel Afilaka to prepare the party for its forth coming congress this month. The chapter resolved to appeal to its national secretariat to lift the ban placed on some members for anti-party activities to heal the wounds within the party structure.
Many chieftains are also worried about the protracted court case between the former chairman of the party, Comrade Rufus Oyatoro, and some chieftains. They said the matter should be settled out of court. The national leadership of the party has instituted a ‘Truth and Fact Finding Committee’ to listen to the grievances of the two parties in the dispute. The allegation against the former chairman is that he is hobnobbing with the APC.
In Oyo State, LP is double dating. A section is supporting the Ajimobi Administration while another section is hobnobbing with the PDP. The acting chairman, Mr. Abdul Adepoju, said the party is the beautiful bride in the Oyo State politics. However, he said that LP is ready for the council polls. “We have put behind our political challenges and repositioned our party in all the 33 local government across the state”, Adepoju said.
In Ekiti, a drama is unfolding. There is anxiety in the ruling party, following the personality clashes between Governor Kayode Fayemi and his compatriot, Bamidele. To many people, the governor has lived to expectation. Therefore, they believe that he deserves a second term. But Bamidele has said that he will slug it out with the governor, despite his endorsement by the party for a second term.
Two months ago, Bamidele inaugurated his campaign organi-sation in Ado-Ekiti. He is also holding consultations with leaders across the 16 councils. The feelers suggest that the former commissioner cannot get the APC ticket.
Bamidele’s posters, which have the logo of the LP on them, have caused some stir. The lawmaker said it is the handiwork of mischief makers within his party.
He said: “It is an attempt by those who are conspiring against my vision and destiny to preempt and harass me into surrendering on my principled stance on issues.”
The LP chairman, Mr. Gbenga Daramola, said the former commissioner was not yet a member of the party. But he quickly added that, if he defected to the party, he would be welcomed. “We wish to state unequivocally that he is at present not a member of the LP, let alone its governorship aspirant”, Daramola said.
However, a party source said that Bamidele is on his way to the LP. He added: “The lawmaker has visited the APC chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, and the leader and his mentor, Asiwaju Tinubu. He informed Tinubu of his ambition. He gave some options. He said he would like to participate in a free and fair primaries. He said he would like to go to the LP to contest and win and later return to the APC. But they said that Tinubu told his boy that, if he leaves the APC, it meant the parting of ways between father and son. We don’t know whether the legislator is still reflecting on his mentor’s advice”.
Chizom Ekeh, freelance journalist profiles Umunna, the British Member of Parliament of Anglo-Irish Nigerian descent who is regarded as one of Labour Party’s ‘rising stars’
Despite his protestations, Chuka Umunna, Labour Member of Parliament can’t hold back speculation that he may become the’ British Obama’.
The former lawyer, who was born and raised in Streatham, has climbed the ranks of the Labour party with record speed.
In just 18 months, he became parliamentary private secretary to the Labour party leader, Ed Miliband, and then moved on to become shadow minister for small business and enterprise. Five months later in October 2011, when John Denham retired from politics, Umunna was promoted to shadow business secretary.
At 33 years old he is one of the youngest MPs in parliament and the shadow cabinet. When he was elected as MP for Streatham at the election in 2010, he was named by commentators as one of Labour’s “rising stars.”
But it is difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when Umunna’s political stardom began. Some highlight his performance on Question Time in October 2007, when he challenged the Sun’s editor, Kelvin McKenzie, over remarks he made about Gordon Brown.
Others highlight his performance at the Treasury Select Committee meeting last year, when he quizzed Barclays boss, Bob Diamond, on the bank’s alleged tax avoidance schemes. It was revealed that Barclays used over 300 subsidiary companies in offshore jurisdictions and had paid just £113m in corporation tax in 2009, despite making £11.6bn in profit.
On the other hand, Independent journalist, Steve Richards, attributes Umunna’s success to his political background and his decision to back Ed Miliband in Labour’s leadership contest. He highlights the politicians’ similar ideological outlooks and the connections made when both were involved with the centre-left think tank, Compass.
It has been five years now since the Labour MP has been dogged with comparisons to Barack Obama. In 2007 Simon Woolley, director of Operation Black Vote, was first to make the link.
Then in 2009, when Umunna was just 30 years old, the New Statesman published his profile as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham with the headline “ A Barack Obama for the UK”.
Indeed there is broad consensus on the many characteristics that the two men share. Most obvious is that both are mixed race of half African descent, both are lawyers and both suffered the tragedy of losing their fathers due to car accidents at an early age. It is also vastly overstated that like Barack Obama, Mr Umunna is handsome too.
And perhaps most perceptive of all, is the observation that the politicians’ names even share the same syllable count.
However in a number of interviews, Umunna has expressed dismay with such comparisons, which he has described as “dangerous “. His stated wish is not to be “viewed through the prism of someone else’s personality.”
The Streatham MP is marked for being an unusually popular politician. This is due in part to his polished public image. Umunna is noted for his custom tailored suits and has been variously described by commentators as ‘smooth’, ‘marketable’, ‘refreshing’ and a ‘cool cat’.
As a result Umunna has wide telegenic appeal and has become a seasoned media performer. Cynics highlight however, that such attributes could mean that he has more chance of becoming prime minister than the current Labour party leader, Ed Miliband.
Nelson Abbey, journalist at the Evening Standard wrote: “If I was Chuka, when Ed Miliband – who doesn’t seem to excite the Labour faithful, the media or the electorate – was elected to lead his party, I would have gone into a bathroom, looked in the mirror and passionately kissed myself. Ed’s election and the defeat of his brother, David Miliband, probably enhanced Chuka’s prospects more than it did his own.”
Despite his confortable upbringing in the leafy suburbs of Streatham, Umunna can straddle the social divide and identify with urban culture. At one point in his life he wanted to be a DJ and ran a regular club night in Brixton.
The MP is also chair of the London gangs’ forum and has supported a number of charities for youth.
But while Umunna identifies himself as a ‘European Social Democrat’, question marks still hang over his politics. Is the Streatham politician, voted two years in succession as parliament’s most fanciable MP, more style than substance or the reverse?
In an interview with the Guardian early last year, Umunna said that his drive to become involved in politics was rooted in his belief in social justice and a desire to change people’s lives. He emphasised that he did not want to be perceived as just another ‘career politician’.
And to this end one could look back to his activities at Compass. At the beginning of his career, he gained a following on the Labour left. He was highly critical of the New Labour agenda and called for the party to stand up for its core beliefs of fairness and redistribution.
Today however Umunna is rumoured to have admitted to friends that since his election in 2010, his politics have shifted to the right or become more “centrist”.
Labour’s “glittering star”, as he was pronounced by the Economist, has been increasingly associated with the former business secretary, Peter Mandelson, who is otherwise known around Westminster as the “Dark Lord”.
Umunna’s stated “totally relaxed” attitude towards the high earnings of entrepreneurs who set up business and create wealth and jobs for the country, is said to echo Mandelson’s statement that he was “intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich” if they paid their taxes. Umunna has expressed deep respect and eagerness to learn from the former business secretary and the pair are said to be in regular contact.
Furthermore and perhaps even more striking is the fact that the Labour MP has expressed new admiration for the former prime minister, Tony Blair, after having recently read his book.
Blair is said to have had significant input into Umunna’s tutelage. In the May issue of Total Politics it was noted that the MP displayed “Tony-esque flourishes”. Meanwhile the Independent’s Tim Walker observed:
“Umunna shares a number of Blair’s mannerisms: he’ll often preface his sentences with “look”, or “Y’know”or “What I would say is…”.
Walker added that he “deploys his charming laugh at all the right moments.”
Indeed in stark contrast to his disillusionment with New Labour in 2009, in 2011 in an interview with the Independent, Umunna said that he believed that 85 per cent of what Tony Blair did was right – although he did not support the invasion of Iraq and his neo-liberal agenda.
He went as far to add that had it not been for Blair’s 1997 reforms, he would probably not have joined the party.
Perhaps most unexpected of all was his recent announcement that he has turned to former Tory business secretary, Michael Heseltine, for inspiration. Umunna explained: “ I just like his approach and mind-set when it comes to looking at how government can work with business.”
The MP has also found friends on the Conservative benches. Andrew Tyrie, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, described Umunna as “charming”, “effective” and “the genuine article” and has predicted that he has every chance of enjoying “a long spell at the top of British politics.” Some Tory bloggers have gone as far to suggest that Umunna should defect.
The MP of Anglo-Irish Nigerian descent proudly describes himself as a Londoner. His professed love for UK garage music is due is to its fusion of English, Jamaican and Latin cultures which makes it “very essentially London”.
But despite having established TMP – a political website targeted at multicultural progressives, he rarely speaks out publically on issues regarding race. His recent statement that the verdict of the John Terry racism trial had sent out the wrong message was unusual.
And unlike activists on the ground who believed that the August 2011 riots were in part symptomatic of declining race in equality in the UK, Umunna refutes all suggestions that the riots had a racial dimension. Instead he says “the elephant in the room is social mobility.”
The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, has called on the Federal Government to tackle corruption in the country.
Nwanyanwu made the call in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
He suggested that government should treat cases of corruption as “crimes against humanity” while advocating for separate courts to try the offenders.
“Until we have strong laws that will put people to check and question them on what they did while in office, we will not develop the Nigerian society,’’ he said.
He also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to tackle election fraud to ensure that the peoples’ votes count.
“There should be a very good electoral law because if a candidate is elected by the people, he will work for their welfare because he will need their mandate to return.’’
He stressed the need for politicians to eschew `godfatherism’ in Nigerian politics, saying that politics should never be seen as “a do or die affair.”
Nwanyanwu urged the government and political stakeholders to find ways to eradicate poverty and unemployment in order to improve on the nation’s workforce.