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  • Mu’azu absent as President gets PDP’s report on polls

    Mu’azu absent as President gets PDP’s report on polls

    President Goodluck Jonathan predicted yesterday that those defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) will return on empty stomach.

    He spoke in Abuja at the submission of a report on the PDP’s performance in the general elections. Party Chairman Adamu Mu’azu was not at the ceremony.

    Dr. Jonathan said: “I encourage members of our party to remain loyal to the party, not to be so disillusioned because we lost the presidential election and decide to go where they think they will fill their stomachs or something. It’s not easy. I have been here for five years plus, you hardly satisfy even 15 per cent of those who work for you.

    “So those people running and those already cross-carpeting, they will come back on an empty stomach because they will touch the primary members of their party, before they get to you. They know you are coming because you are hungry, before it will get to you the food will be gone.

    “So let us be committed to the party. Yes we will have challenges at the beginning, but surely we will get to where we want to be.”

    Dr. Jonathan received the report from the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC)’s Director General, Alhaji Ahmadu Ali, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

    He said the PDP is the dominant party despite losing the presidential election.

    The Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, noted that the party did not win the presidential election but won peace for the country.

    He said: “We didn’t win the elections but we have a leader who made us to win peace. Without peace, there cannot be development.

    “There is a lot to be done. We need a very strong and vibrant party to be put in place now. I believe we are on the right path. Let us put behind us those who have betrayed the party and move forward.”

    Party chairman Adamu Muazu was absent at the event and no reason was given for his absence.

    The president added: “PDP is still the most organised party; it is still the party that is not owned by anybody; it’s still the party that whatever you are you can get to any level with your competences and so on,” he said.

    The President said he did not consult anyone before making the phone call to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari even before the final tally of results.

    “Yes I did not consult anybody before I made that phone call but I made that phone call on behalf of all of you and on behalf of the PDP.

    “I made the pronouncement but some of us are paying the price. Some people pay more price than I do. I know how some of you are already being persecuted and the kind of situation facing you.

    “The key thing is that we must continue to unite. As a party we must continue to work hard so that as we go into subsequent elections 2019, 2023 and so on and so forth, PDP will continue to come up strong. Even in the interest of the nation, we need PDP.

    “I still believe though we have lost presidential elections, some National Assembly elections, governorship elections, especially in the North, PDP is still the dominant party. Let us not judge PDP by the result of the elections for the presidential elections.”

    Jonathan likened the 2015 elections to the civil war which had various accounts written by various people.

    “Of course the issues of this 2015 elections will be similar to the civil war because different people gave different account of the civil war. The first book on civil war that I read was My Command by Olusegun Obasanjo, which is his perspectives on what he saw and observed. I recall Ojukwu’s own was Because I’m Involved. If you read it, the dimensions are sometimes tangential to the first.

    “If you ask the various observer groups, each will give you a different perspective. Even among ourselves, whenever we talk, ýsometimes I laugh when people draw some of their analysis but by my privileged position I knew a little more about elections than others,” he said.

    President Jonathan said countries that sent vessels in case of an urgent need to evacuate their nationals from Nigeria were disappointed because there was nobody to evacuate.

    “The country was so tense but everything has gone down and I think that is the most important thing because the conviction is that you must have a country before you can run for an office. Nigeria is a very complex country and you must manage with care.

    “So let me thank you all for joining us to carry the cross. Thank you for the various roles you played and I charge you toý be even more committed to the development of the party. Definitely, PDP will become stronger and united,” he added.

    Aliý said: “You made the world proud by conceding defeat even when you had several options. You proved to the world that you are committed to your credo that no one’s blood is worth your political ambition.

    “By that singular act, you pulled Nigeria back from a seeming pre-determined precipice and you made us proud. While you assuredly lost in the ballots, you won the biggest victory in defeat by that historic phone call.”

    “This is the first time in the history of this country that a sitting government has handed over power peacefully to an opposition party after an election. We are proud of you,’’ he told President Jonathan.

  • No pressure on Mu’azu, others to resign, says PDP

    No pressure on Mu’azu, others to resign, says PDP

    The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has denied media reports asking the party chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and his team to resign.

    A statement yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said neither the PDP Governors’ Forum nor any other organ of the party made such demand on the party executives.

    Rather, Metuh said Mu’azu and his team enjoy the confidence of key stakeholders in the party, including the PDP Governors’ Forum.

    “The NWC was never asked to resign by the forum of governors or any other organ of the party for that matter.

    “For the avoidance of doubt therefore, the NWC states that at no time was the National Chairman of our great party, Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu, walked out of the meeting of the governors, neither was he in any way ill-treated at that meeting contrary to reports in some section of the media.

    “To put the records straight, our National Chairman upon invitation by the governors, attended the meeting alongside our Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus and National Legal Adviser, Mr. Victor Kwon and left after a brief and fruitful discussion with the governors. Mu’azu was not at any time asked to resign and nothing close to such was ever insinuated at the meeting.”

  • No pressure on Mu’azu, others to resign – PDP

    No pressure on Mu’azu, others to resign – PDP

    The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has denied media reports that the party chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and his team had been asked to resign.

    A statement issued on Thursday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said neither the PDP Governors’ Forum nor any other organ of the party made such demand on the party executives.

    Rather, Metuh said Mu’azu and his team enjoy the confidence of key stakeholders in the party, including the PDP Governors’ Forum.

    The statement said,”The NWC was never asked to resign by the forum of governors or any other organ of the party for that matter.

    “For the avoidance of doubt therefore, the NWC states that at no time was the National Chairman of our great party, Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu walked out of the meeting of the governors, neither was he in any way ill-treated at that meeting contrary to reports in some section of the media.

    “To put the records straight, our National Chairman upon invitation by the governors, attended the meeting alongside our Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus and National Legal Adviser, Barr. Victor Kwon and left after a brief and fruitful discussion with the governors. Mu’azu was not at any time asked to resign and nothing close to such was ever insinuated at the meeting.

    “For purposes of clarification, the National Working Committee as a duly elected organ of the party has a constitutionally guaranteed tenure which expires in March 2016. It is therefore focused on galvanizing every organ and interests within the PDP with a view to re-engineering it for the task ahead.

    “To this end, the NWC is currently working hand in hand with strategic stakeholders, including PDP governors towards repositioning our great party and regaining power at the center by 2019.

    “In this regard, the National Working Committee in its meeting on Wednesday April 29, 2015 constituted a special committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu. The committee membership is drawn from all the key stakeholders of the party, including members of the forum of governors.

    “Furthermore, the NWC states that it holds the PDP Governors’ Forum in very high esteem, especially its Chairman, Governor Godswill Akpabio, who has worked assiduously for the progress of the party.

    “Finally, the NWC restates that it enjoys the confidence and respect of all our organs and structures across board, particularly the PDP governors who individually and collectively appreciate that the supremacy of the party is more important than anything else at this point in time.”

  • Small boys run hate campaign in PDP, says Mu’azu

    Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu yesterday said “small boys” in his party are responsible for hate campaigns against the opposition.

    According to him, he had always expressed his misgivings about such utterances.

    He spoke when he received members of the National Peace Committee for the 2015 general elections at the party secretariat.

    The committee, headed by former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, appealed to contesting parties and candidates to refrain from the practice in the interest of peace and unity of the country.

    Its delegation was yesterday led by its Vice Chairman, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, who complained about the way some of the politicians have been speaking.

    Ukiwe said: “First, I will encourage them to focus more on issues; what they want to do, the type of development they want to tackle. And to stop what looks like hate speeches or hate attack, personality attack and so on because that will only bring anger and retaliation as a result of which we may end up with a crisis we don’t wish.

    “There are fears that following the crisis already witnessed, there could be post-election violence like we witnessed in 2011 where more than 800 persons lost their lives. Do you have these fears?

    “The purpose of this visit is to continue to hammer on peaceful co-existence to avoid any post-election violence. We don’t want any violence, we don’t want to lose our children, our brothers and sisters.

    “It happened before and so whatever result that comes out of it, there should be no violence. I don’t wish that we have violence and so I am also preaching against violence after this election.”

    Ukiwe was accompanied by other members of the committee, among who were Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, among others.

    Kukah said: “This is Nigeria. And it is important to understand our country and our people. As a Christian, my prayer is that all our anxieties will probably be laid to rest by the Lord of the Universe Himself.

    “But on a more practical and serious note, Nigerians are probably far more resilient than we were giving them credit for. I expect that these elections will come and they will go.

    “My real concern is not with ordinary Nigerians, it is with the politicians who may never have learnt how to smell defeat. And we have said all that needs to be said; about the fact that this country is more important than any politician.”

    Some of the most vicious campaigns is the “death wish” advertisement by Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose for All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Gen Muhammadu Buhari.

    Mu’azu?, said hate campaigns from PDP were carried out by “small boys” within the party who reacted to ?”antics” of the APC.

    Mu’azu said: “I want to assure you that the PDP will be running a very fair campaign led by me if you watch my utterances personally, you will find that there is nothing I do than to be a good salesman of what I should be, for my party and for my President. I have enough to say about my President that are positive to make people adore him and love him to vote for him. I have very little to say about the opposition.

    “Unfortunately, when the opposition goes hay wire, some of our small boys in our own party also shout back. And that is why you have some of the unfortunate things. Believe me, I always give them a very strong signal that we don’t expect that. This is why it is not more than it has been. It would have gone even much worse.

    “It is absolutely unnecessary to call somebody’s product bad product, it is better for you to sell your product and show how good or better your product is than the others.

    “For us, President Goodluck Jonathan has all we need to sell in a president and therefore we do not need to speak ill about others. But I only want to assure you that by the grace of the Almighty God we have heard your advice and your words as elders are words of wisdom.

    “We will continue to improve and increase in our caution and the use of our words and whatsoever use of negative campaigns for the next few days until the election day.

    “On our part, we will make sure we sit down with all the gentlemen and ladies that we need to talk to, so that there will be no further injuries from our own side to the others.

    “We hope the other political parties will be able to give you equally important, their commitment to continuous peaceful and none-insulting campaign as we move towards the deadline for the presidential election”.

    “This is the kind of committee we need to be our watchdog, to be our prompters so that we do what is absolutely required to have a very credible peaceful and transparent elections and for such a result that would come out of the elections for us to be happy with.”

  • Polls: Jonathan, Sambo, Muazu, Mark, others meet today

    Ahead of March 28 and April 11 general elections, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu will today chair an emergency meeting of the ruling party.

    The meeting, to be held under the aegis of the National Campaign Council (NCC), which has Muazu as its chair, will take place at the Wadata Plaza National Secretariat of the PDP, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.

    Expected at the meeting are: President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark and Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus.

    The party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih; Director- General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, (PDPPCO) and former National Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Ali; former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, PDP Governors’ Forum (PDPGF) Chairman and Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio; Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; and the Chief of Staff to the President, Brig-Gen James Arogbofa (rtd) will also attend.

  • Jonathan, Mu’azu clash as PDP’s hate campaign backfires

    Jonathan, Mu’azu clash as PDP’s hate campaign backfires

    A NEW crisis has broken out in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The crisis has been sparked by the party’s presidential campaign organisation’s and First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan’s attacks on some of the North’s prominent politicians.

    The hate campaign has ignited a row between President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.

    Specifically, Mu’azu and other Northern leaders in the PDP have kicked against the unrestrained vulgar attacks by the First Lady and Jonathan’s campaign spokesman, Femi Fani-Kayode, against All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    Mu’azu and other party chieftains are said to have taken exception to Mrs. Jonathan referring to Gen. Buhari as being “brain dead” without a word of caution from the President. The First Lady’s position was echoed by Fani-Kayode, who re-stated that “yes, truly, Buhari is brain dead”.

    Similarly, Mrs. Jonathan’s reference to “people in the North who breed more children than they can cater for” during one of her campaign stops in Calabar, Cross River State, is also said to the causing disquiet within the party’s leadership.

    Mrs. Jonathan had said: “Our people do not give birth to uncountable children. Our men don’t give birth to children they dump in the streets. We are not like people from that part of the country (North)”.

    In that instance, Mrs. Jonathan was apparently referring to the Almajiri system in the North, a lower stratum of children whose situation her husband claims to be addressing with the establishment of Almajiri schools in some states in the North.

    Some prominent citizens including some clerics, have continued to register their indignation over the First Lady’s utterances, wondering why Mu’azu and other Northern leading lights in the PDP would keep quiet over what they consider an assault on their collective cultural values.

    The Northern establishment is said to have taken the silence by Mu’azu and other prominent Northern chieftains of the party on Mrs. Jonathan’s verbal assaults as acquiescence or approval.

    Faced with opposition from his home base, the PDP National Chairman was said to have voiced his objection to the affront and is said to be exhibiting a lukewarm commitment to the President’s campaign.

    This is said to have caused divisions between Mu’azu and some prominent chieftains of the PDP on one hand and President Jonathan and a horde of party chieftains from the South on the other.

    But the party’s National Publicity Secretary  Chief Olisa Metuh, has denied it all. In a statement he issued on Monday, Metuh dismissed the report as “spurious” and an attempt to drag down the party chairman.

    Metuh said:”As one of the founding fathers of the PDP, the National Chairman has continued to add immense value with his mature and decent approach to issues in keeping with the tradition and vision of our great party, a disposition that has continued to attract massive support across board for our presidential flag bearer, President Goodluck Jonathan.

    “Indeed, we are aware that the aim of those behind the mischievous report is to sow seed of discord and cause confusion within our ranks, distract the leadership and undermine our presidential campaign, which is now coasting swiftly to victory to the chagrin of the opposition.

    “It is incontrovertible that the National Chairman has been at the forefront of our presidential campaign train and enjoys an excellent working relationship with President Jonathan as exhibited in their bond at rallies, visits and meetings with stakeholders across the country.

    “Whereas we recognise the zeal and enthusiasm of some of our supporters who are repaying the opposition in their own stock, our National Chairman, as the face of the PDP, has remained restrained despite numerous unwarranted provocations, a stance which does not in anyway detract from his commitment to the campaigns but reinforces our values and dedication to unity, peace and stability of our dear nation.

    “This exemplary style of politics played significant role in reducing the tension in the polity ahead of the elections and has also endeared our party to a majority of Nigerian citizens and key stakeholders in the electoral process.

    “It is to the credit of the National Chairman that his leadership stabilised our party at its critical moment and successfully achieved unity among our leaders and members while strengthening the confidence of Nigerians in the PDP as the only vehicle to deliver democracy dividends to them.”

    “Also indisputable is his deft application of wealth of experience and far-reaching connections to galvanize the entire party structure in adopting President Goodluck Jonathan as our sole presidential candidate, a project to which he has remained unflinchingly committed.

    “Since the commencement of the campaigns, our National Chairman has evolved and maintained a dynamic structure that involves members of the National Working Committee engaging in personal and group campaigns as well as strategic meetings with critical stakeholders in their respective states and zones to ensure the success of President Jonathan and other candidates of our party in the elections.

    “This is in addition to effective coordination of party structures in all the zones, states, local governments and wards across the country.

    “Finally, we wish to state categorically that the PDP remains resolute as one united family and no amount of media fabrications and malicious insinuations will distract us from our focus ahead of the elections”.

  • PDP has confidence in INEC, says Mu’azu

    PDP has confidence in INEC, says Mu’azu

    NATIONAL Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu has expressed his party’s confidence in the ability of the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct free, fair and credible elections.

    Mu’azu, who spoke yesterday at the Abuja headquarters of the PDP, said President Goodluck Jonathan thought very well before appointing Professor Attahiru Jega as INEC chairman.

    “The President thought very well before appointing Jega. We have the confidence in him to conduct free, clear, fair and transparent elections,” he said.

    The PDP chair however urged the electoral body to use the time provided by the shift in election dates to tidy up its preparations for the polls.

    He said that Nigerians embraced the idea of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) as a model to facilitate credible elections and not as instrument of disenfranchisement.

    Mu’azu confidence in Jega is coming on the heels of accusations of bias leveled against the INEC chair by President Jonathan’s campaign organisation.

    The Director-General of the organisation, Dr. Ahmadu Ali and its Director of Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode had, at separate briefings, accused Jega of bias.

    Fani-Kayode accused the INEC chair of holding meetings with opposition party leaders in Dubai. He did not substantiate the allegation.

    Ali also accused INEC of shoddy preparations, expressing preference for the use of the Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) that were used in the 2011 elections as against the PVCs being proposed by INEC.

    Fani-Kayode and Ali have continued to mount campaign against the person and office of the INEC chair, in an apparent attempt to discredit the electoral umpire.

    Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio who was also at the briefing, dismissed reports that PDP governors in the Northeast and Northwest zones have joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) to campaign for the its presidential flag bearer, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari.

    Describing the report as baseless, evil and scandalous, Akpabio said: “That is a rumour, it is falsehood. It is baseless and it is evil. It is scandalous.”

    According to him, the PDP governors gave President Jonathan automatic return ticket due to his track record of achievements.

    “The PDP governors across Nigeria have resolved to return President Goodluck Jonathan to Aso Villa. This is fact and that was why the PDP Governors endorsed the President for a second term in office,” the governor stated.

    None of the party’s governors from the Northeast and Northwest attended the briefing, tagged a ‘world press conference’.

    In attendance were governors Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Idris Wada (Kogi) and Gabriel Suswam (Benue).

    Reacting to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of Buhari, Mu’azu described the report as a rumour, saying the former president kicked against anti-party activity in his recent memo to President Jonathan.

    “Obasanjo is a revered leader of our party. He is experienced, he is sagacious. Unless I see and confirm from him, it is a rumour. From my record, he is still a member of the party and he will not do that”, Mu’azu said.

    In a statement by his spokesman, Tony Amadi, Mu’asu urged PDP members to fortify their constituencies to position the party for victory.

    He said: “All Peoples Democratic Party members at all levels from ward, local government, state and federal must in the next five weeks to the March 28th 2015 Presidential Elections gird their loins, tighten all loose ends as we face a titanic battle to ensure that we win a historic fourth presidential election victory, control the National Assembly and produce more governors on April 11, 2015.

    “We are on the threshold of winning the 2015 general elections because our opponents have been disoriented, their consistent fabrication of lies to win the votes of Nigerians has been exposed and their change mantra has lost steam.”=

  • Mu’azu’s crocodile tears

    Those familiar with events surrounding the last ward congresses and primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would be amazed at the recent assessment of that party by its national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu. Not that the issues he raised are not correct. But coming from such a key leader, people are bound to wonder what he is now up to.

    Hear him, “A lot of people who left our party did so because of injustice in our party. Our party is full of injustice. The membership of the APC, LP APGA is increasing because of this. All these members are from our party. We must find out what is wrong and correct it”

    Mu’azu’s comments at the event which had President Jonathan in attendance reportedly attracted heavy ovation from party members. Apparently sensing danger, Jonathan was quick to admit he was aware of issues arising from the last PDP primaries. But he called on members of the party to unite and resolve them so as to ensure success at the coming elections.

    The issues raised by Mu’azu on the conduct of their party are not entirely new. What is perhaps new is that this is the first time a sitting PDP national chairman who just presided over very flawed primaries would so soon after, come public to speak of his party in such a deprecating manner.

    From the way he spoke, he appears to have given the impression that he is not part of the charade that went in the name of ward congresses and primaries of the party. That is why he would want the president to speak with the governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives and other elected officials.

    Its corollary is that much of the blame for the said injustice should be heaped at the doorsteps of the president or somewhere else. That is why he is being asked to speak to all categories of elected officers. The other logical deduction is that much of those in the category of the aggrieved, fall within elected people who apparently could not secure a return ticket or whose plans to install their anointed candidates hit the rocks.

    Admittedly, there exist clear instances of this. Enugu State, where the incumbent governor had to trade off his senatorial ambition for imposing an anointed governorship candidate is a case in point. There is also that of Ebonyi State where the incumbent governor not only had his preferred candidate shortchanged but has been so frustrated that he now pursues his senatorial ambition through another party. These and many more instances could be cited.

    But they represent an infinitesimal fraction of those genuinely embittered by the outcome of the last PDP primaries. They only represent the most vocal and most visible of those who have left the party because of the malfeasance the PDP national chairman felt strongly about that he had to come out public. There are many more of such aggrieved people and Mu’azu cannot claim ignorant of this fact.

    He inadvertently fell into the same trap he is complaining about in assuming that those who need to be reconciled are all about elected members.

    That is not exactly the case. If it were so, he would have had no cause to lament the heavy exodus of his party members to other parties. In the category of aggrieved people are ordinary members who were lured out to participate during its ward congresses which never held in many places even as lists of purportedly elected delegates were produced by powerful members.

    Complaints were made to the national headquarters where Mu’azu holds sway but nothing came out of some of them. It was against this foreboding background that the primaries were held with lists doctored by highest bidders. Their outcome was very predictable as those who suffused the lists with their cronies’ names succeeded in determining who eventually emerged as candidates. They succeeded in throwing up people who at once, were electoral liabilities.

    The party’s further reaction was to embark on the very panicky measure of even substituting names of such people with those they thought will give them victory at the polls. This further exacerbated the situation. Many of the popular candidates who could not withstand the glaring injustice had to seek accommodation in other parties as the PDP national chairman rightly observed.

    They have left and may not be available for any reconciliation for now. They have left and are going to fight the PDP at the elections. So, it is not just the issue of bad losers. You cannot have bad losers or losers at all in a game that has no rules or worst still where the rules were observed in their breach. That is the burden the party has to bear for now and the consequences might be very dire.

    Mu’azu was being less than honest when he asked the party to find out what went wrong and correct it. In a way, it could amount to self-indictment for him to feign ignorance of the monumental corruption at the party headquarters that made its leadership incapable of decisively handling genuine complaints of members. He cannot claim ignorance that a lot of money changed hands before delegates’ lists that bore no semblance with the wishes of the people were imposed on them. He cannot claim he was unaware the current predicament of the party in Imo State was a logical concomitant of the delegates’ lists’ imposition. So why does he require another inquisition for what is obvious? The issues that aggravate defection are not new. Not even after the implosion of the party leading to mass exodus of some of its governors and foundation members. For someone in Mu’azu’s shoes, the minimum expectation was that he should have seized the momentum of that event to put the party on the right frame.

    But he did practically nothing as it remained business as usual. For a party that is faced with the kind of challenge this country is passing through, he would have steered the ship of his party to the part of sanity, order and good example in internal democracy. He allowed the matter to degenerate such that he now wants to give the impression he could be exculpated from the vices he complained about.

    It would have made more sense if he had let the nation into the actions he initiated to remedy the situation or throw in the towel if his ideas on that were being frustrated by some powerful interests. That would have been the path to credible and visionary leadership rather than this belated resort to shedding crocodile tears when the harm had already been done.

    Had he done so, he would have saved himself the embarrassment of buck-passing when the buck should stop at his table. Unless there are some extenuating issues, Mu’azu should take much of the blame for the current fate of the party. He must also share in the blame for the injustice he complained about. The issue is not just about the existence of injustice in the party as the steps he took to remedy the situation.

    Curiously, all these are taking place during an election year with very high stakes. For Jonathan, the party will take these into account when preparing for the 2019 elections. Fine! But the cost could be such that he may not have another opportunity to redress the situation.

  • Jonathan, Mu’azu get knocks for undermining Adamawa Christians

    Jonathan, Mu’azu get knocks for undermining Adamawa Christians

    Some Adamawa State indigenes, under the aegis of the Movement for the Emancipation of Adamawa People (MEAP), have accused President Jonathan, Mu’azu get knocks for undermining Adamawa ChristiansJonathan of alleged insensitivity to the interest of Christian in the state.

    In a statement yesterday in Kaduna, MEAP said Jonathan was being misled by some people in the corridors of power to undermine the interest of Christians in Adamawa State and treat them with disdain.

    The statement, by its Chairman, Philip Adamu, said the President was subjecting Christians who, it claimed, constituted 80 per cent of the population of the state, to the authorities of the minority Fulani.

    The statement accused Jonathan, his Principal Private Secretary, Alhaji Hassan Tukur and the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Muazu, of manipulating the state PDP governorship primaries in favour of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, a Fulani.

    MEAP said the party’s action amounted to gross injustice against Governor James Bala Ngilari and the Christian community in the state.

    The statement said: “We find it very strange that Mallam Ribadu who, until his recent defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP, was an ardent critic of Jonathan and his government, has been imposed on the Adamawa PDP in a very crude and undemocratic manner, simply because some elements within the corridors of power in Abuja are opposed to Ngilari, a Christian, from governing the state in 2015.

    “If Ngilari was a Fulani man, they would have given him the ticket. This is unfair and undemocratic, and it will not stand. We will use our voting power in 2015 to resist this injustice.

    “We are aware that following the growing disenchantment of our people against the President, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), Mr. John Kenedy Opara, with the connivance of some individuals in the corridors of power in Abuja, arranged some people to posed as the representatives of the Christian community in the state and held a meeting with the President on Friday December 12, 2014 as part of ploys to appease our people to accept and support Ribadu and Jonathan in the 2015 elections.”

     

    “We wish to state that those people that met with the President were not the representatives of Christians in Adamawa state and such meeting will not produce anything, therefore Mr. President should not allow anybody to deceive him.”

    The statement added: “It was under the watchful eyes of Mr. President that the likes of Alhaji Hassan Tukur and John Kenedy Opara worked against Mr. Markus Gunduri, Christian of becoming the governor of Adamawa state in 2011.

    “We also recalled that during the flood disaster in Adamawa state, Mr. President was misled by former governor Murtala Nyako, a Fulani man to visit only the Fulani victims of the incident while Christian who were the major casualty of the disaster was ignored.

    The statement added: “Even when there were no any allegations of any misdeed by the Adamawa House of Assembly against governor,  Ngilari, Alhaji Tukur, under the watchful eyes of Mr. President undermined the interest of Christians by insisting that Ngilari along with Nyako must be impeached until the court declared him governor.”

     

  • PDP, Mu’azu deny sacking Ondo exco

    PDP, Mu’azu deny sacking Ondo exco

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),its National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu and others have denied claims by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, that the Ebenezer Alabi-led Executive Committee in Ondo State was dissolved.

    The PDP, Mu’azu and others, who are defendants in a suit by members of the Alabi-led committee, denied dissolving the Ondo Executive Committee.

    They said the party’s national leadership never stopped recognising and relating with the Alabi committee as the party’s only executive in Ondo State.

    Their position was contained in a written address and a counter-affidavit, dated November 3, filed in response to the case before Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Apo, Abuja.

    Metuh had, in a statement on October 26, announced the dissolution of the Alabi-led executive committee and the constitution of a caretaker committee headed by Dare Adeleke.

    Also joined in the suit are the Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, National Secretary Prof. Wale Oladipo, Metuh, Senate President David Mark and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The plaintiffs include Alabi, Ondo PDP Deputy Chairman Fatai Adams, and its Secretary, Oyedele Ibine and three party chairmen at the local government level.

    The defendants, who have also opposed the plaintiff’s application for “an order of mandatory injunction setting aside the purported dissolution” of the party exco in Ondo State, said, in a supporting affidavit, that the claims by the plaintiffs in their application dated October 27 were false and misleading.

    The defendants, in their written address by their lawyer, Victory Kwon, added that “on the contrary and significantly, the first – 13th defendants (PDP national leadership) have continued to deal with only the plaintiffs/applicants (Ebenezer Alabi-led exco) as regards to its activities in Ondo State.

    The defendants also stated, in their counter-affidavit deposed to by Nanchang Ndam, that “on the contrary, the first – 13th defendants have only dealt with the plaintiffs/applicants to the exclusion of any other person as regards its activities in Ondo State.”

    Alabi and others had, in their application, accused the defendants of having engaged in “serial acts aimed at appropriating to themselves or destroying the subject matter of the suit”.

    They urged the court to grant its application for mandatory injunction “declaring null and void and of no effect all steps, acts or things done by the caretaker committee pending the determination of the suit.”

    The court will conduct hearing on the applications filed by both parties today.