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Tag: National Working Committee

  • Lagos PDP: Torn apart by crises

    Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been embroiled in a battle of survival. Many factors have contributed to the intractable crises that have prevented the party from fulfilling its aspiration of giving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) a run for its money in the last general elections. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE examines the issues that have bedeviled the party and how it can be repositioned for future elections.

    All is not well with the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It has been a story of one crisis after another and it appears there is no end to the division rocking the one-time largest party in Africa. All efforts to resolve the crises have proved abortive.

    It has been a case of accusation and counter accusation among the major party stakeholders. The situation got worse, following the defeat of the party in the last general elections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The outcome of the election released bottled up anger that has been nursed over the years.

    Observers believe the party has a long way to go, to challenge the dominance of the ruling party in the state. The party has not won any major election in Lagos since 1999. In the opinion of some members, if the quarrelsome situation continues, those who believe in the party may lose faith. Some party big names have threatened to pull out if the party fails to address the issues pulling it apart.

    Such party chieftains said it is a shameful act to observe the PDP’s dirty linen being washed in the public. They said the more the aggrieved members display their anger in public, the slimmer the chances of reconciliation.

    The issues at the centre of the disagreement revolve round poor management of the party’s funds, anti-party activities and disrespect for party elders.

    To make matters worse, the national body appeared to have turned deaf ears to what is happening in Lagos. The National Working Committee (NWC), led by Prince Uche Secondus, it is believed, has remained aloof towards the crises in the Lagos chapter.

    A source in the chapter said it has reached a level where the national body must step in to address the matter. Otherwise, it will disintegrate.

    Prior to the 2019 general elections, its former Deputy National chairman, Chief Olabode George, and Lagos PDP 2019 governorship candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, jointly addressed a conference, where they cleared the air on misgivings within the fold.

    They had refuted allegations that the party was divided. At the conference, the two politicians said it was united in its quest to win Lagos, noting that they would work together to actualize the plans to dislodge the APC.

    Analysts believe the intent of addressing conference was simply to give the impression that they were united in their quest to challenge the APC.  But, beyond the window dressing at the conference, party stakeholders were going for each other’s jugular behind the scene.

    As a proof of their disagreement, up to the eleventh hour of the election, George and those loyal to him rarely participated in Agbaje’s campaign. They even accused the PDP governorship candidate of frustrating efforts to win the state. He was said to have diverted election funds running into billions of naira. The Lagos PDP chairman, Dr. Adegbola Dominic, said Agbaje bolted away with funds provided by the party headquarters immediately the money was released.

    At a conference, Dominic narrated how he made spirited efforts to get Agbaje to explain why he made away with the fund for the Lagos PDP. He said the only explanation given by the governorship flag bearer was that he was asked to expend the money purely for election matters.

    The chairman said the promise made by Agbaje that he would furnish his office the details of how the money was spent did not materialise.

    Dominic said Agbaje was selfish and that he held the party to ransom. The chairman said the governorship candidate was mainly responsible for the failure of the party to make appreciable impact during the election.

    He said: “There are ample evidence that the Lagos PDP recorded more votes during the presidential election than the governorship election. I can say it without mincing words that Agbaje was solely responsible for what happened.”

    The chairman equally accused Agbaje of disrespecting the Lagos PDP leaders, particularly George. Dominic said he was shocked by the venom poured by Agbaje on the party leader. He said it was unfortunate and unbecoming of a party stalwart.

    He added: “Agbaje response was sickening for a Yoruba person; very disgraceful and unacceptable. As omoluabis in Yoruba land, we do not throw stones at elders. What Agbaje did was basically to throw a sledgehammer at his benefactor, by referring to him as a sick mind.”

    Before now, the pharmacist-turned-politician denied any wrongdoing in the run up to the election, adding that the action he took was in order and in the party’s interest. Agbaje said no stone was left unturned in the effort to win the 2019 election.

    He said those who accused him of running a one-man show were economical with the truth. He said there were evidence that he did not take decisions alone.

    Agbaje’s spokesperson, Modupe Ogunbayo, said party chieftains were adequately briefed on every move of the governorship candidate.

    In a counter response to the Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary, Taofiq Gani’s accusation that Agbaje ran a solo campaign, Ogunbayo said she was surprised by Gani’s outburst that leaders were sidelined during the campaign.

    She went further to say that Gani did not only attend Agbaje’s campaign, but was also the arrow head leading the onslaught against the ruling APC.

    She denied any misconduct by Agbaje, saying the issues of noti releasing funds given by the PDP headquarters was simply to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

    Ogunbayo said Agbaje disbursed funds according to the instruction given to him. She noted that if the fund was not properly utilised her principal would have been brought to judgment.

    The governorship candidate’s spokesman added: “Agbaje followed instruction on how to expend the money to the letter. The fund was purely for election expenses and not to be shared by party chieftains or so. He gave every member who participated in that election their dues.

    “Are you saying the party headquarters does not read or hear what is going in the Lagos chapter? They have never complained, because they know that Agbaje followed instruction given to him.”

    Sources within the chapter said Agbaje was specifically told to sideline George’s group and prevent it from handling the money. The source maintained that in the past the group had always collected money without using it for the purpose it was meant for.

    One of the sources added: “They specifically urged the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to ensure that the money he would release for Lagos did not go into wrong hands. That is why Agabje had the effrontery to go away with the fund released by Abuja without caring whose ox is gored.”

    The party’s Lagos West senatorial candidate and factional chairman, Mr. Segun Adewale, has been accused of causing a colossal pain in the efforts to find a lasting solution to the PDP crises in the state.

    Adewale who was the candidate of Action Democratic Party (ADP) in the 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State returned to Lagos to continue his battle with the George camp. He said Dominic is a usurper and does not have the legitimacy to lead Lagos PDP.

    The battle to reclaim the seat has been raging and he has made several attempts to forcefully take over the secretariat. This has often led to the breakdown of law and order at the PDP office, located in the Shogunle area of Ikeja Government Reservation Area (GRA).

    Stakeholders have found it difficult to reach amicable solution to the crises, because both Dominic and Adewale have been at each other’s throat on who is in charge.

    Asserting his right to the position, Dominic said the police had been informed to arrest Adewale because he is no longer a member of the party and therefore he is a usurper.

    In a petition written to the police titled, ‘Unnecessary and preventable break-in and entry at PDP Secretariat’, he said: “We are imploring the Nigeria Police, to apprehend Segun Adewale in order maintain peace and protect our property.”

    He said the break-in occurred despite the fact that Adewale was not a member of the PDP and the police have been duly informed about the unwarranted breaches in the party’s affairs.

    The Dominic group went on in the petition: “Please be reminded that this occasion is not the first and you have to swing to action to half the perpetual breaking down of order due to Adewale’s conduct.”

    Speaking on the matter, Adewale said he was following the constitution of the party which still recognises him as the chairman. He said Dominic is a stooge of George, because the latter tried to foist him on the party through the backdoor.  He maintained that contesting Ekiti election on the platform of the ADP did not mean that he had ceased to be a non-member of the PDP.

    Adewale added that he was adopted by the ADP when former Governor Ayodele Fayose said nobody could contest against his former deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, for the party’s ticket.

    Adewale said: “I did not work against the chances of the PDP in Ekiti. I never campaigned against its candidate. What I did was to maintain during the campaign that I was the best candidate for the state.

    “Now that the Ekiti election has come and gone, I am back to Lagos to continue as the chairman; a position I legally occupy by dint of the party’s constitution. The truth is that Dominic was never elected the chairman. It is the plan of Bode George to put him there to do his bidding.”

    The PDP crises deepened, when one of its major stakeholders, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, dropped a hint that he would be leaving the party. The comment from the former Minister of Works and Housing jolted the party. Observers believe it was the sign of bad omen for the party. Ogunlewe could be ranked in the class of die-hard party stalwarts, such as George and Ebenezer Babatope.

    The former minister gave his reason for leaving the party. He said: “Yes, I am set to leave. My son who is already there and he is expecting me to join him. I am leaving in no distant time. You see, there is no chairman in the PDP. We don’t have leaders and you don’t expect me to stay in a party that is not stable and with people that lack focus.”

    Prior to his pronouncement, his son, Moyosore Ogunlewe, who contested Kosofe Constituency 1 on the platform of the PDP and lost defected to the APC. Analysts say they were not surprised that Ogunlewe senior made the pronouncement that he was leaving the PDP, because that has been the tradition of many party leaders.

    One of the analysts said: “What they often do was to test the turbulent water by pushing their wards as a forerunner. When that successfully scales through, they now take the next flight to the party in power.

    “Other members who followed the same route include former Organising Secretary, Mutiu Olakunle. Olakunle contested the Federal House of Representatives, but was defeated by the APC candidate. Indeed, the number of PDP members who crossed to the ruling party in recent times has been on the increase. Almost all the party members who were elected to the Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA) in 2015 defected to the APC afterwards.”

    Close watchers of the developments in the Lagos PDP believe the reason why members have been crossing over to the APC was because of lack of assurance that party can fly in the state. The party did not win any outstanding election in Lagos when it was at the helm of affairs at the centre.

    With its dwindling financial fortunes, the party has not been able to attract new members. At some point, workers at the party’s secretariat were being owed and rents for the premises were running into several million of naira. Succour only came during the 2019 electioneering campaign when Atiku agreed to pay the bills.

    It very likely more members will leave the party, in view of the discordant voices from the party. But, other members believe that what is happening is simply a storm in a tea cup. They said the party will bounce back and that every problem has a solution. One of its die-hard members said: “The challenge is just temporary; we will get over it. But before that could be done those causing the problem for the party have to leave and some of them have actually started leaving. I can assure you that when the bad eggs are removed the party will become superlative.”

  • Ondo: Akeredolu and APC’s festering crisis

    There is fear that except the national leadership of All Progressives Congress moves fast to resolve the festering crisis within its Ondo State chapter, the party may be threatened in future elections, reports Assistant Editor, ‘Dare Odufowokan

    THE crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has deepened as stakeholders within the ruling party continue to haul brickbats at one another over the reported querying and suspension of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC over allegations of anti-party activities during the last general elections in the state.

    According to party sources who spoke to The Nation on the raging crisis on condition of anonymity, Akeredolu is being accused of using state and party machineries to support the aspirations of some National Assembly candidates who contested the February National Assembly Elections on the platform of the Action Alliance (AA) in some parts of the state.

    The Nation gathered that the reported suspension of the governor is not unconnected with the hordes of petitions received from numerous chieftains of the party in the state accusing Akeredolu of dumping the APC candidates in the affected areas and supporting the AA candidates as part of his camp’s protest against the alleged imposition of some National Assembly candidates by the national leadership of the party contrary to the desires of the governor.

    Trouble started between the governor and the Adams Oshiomhole-led NWC when the party decided to give automatic tickets to the three senators in the state to seek re-elections on its platform. Akeredolu, who had been at loggerheads with one of the beneficiaries, Senator Ajayi Borrofice, protested and insisted that primary elections be held, to determine who the APC candidates should be in the elections in the state.

     

    Suspended, unaware

    After the general elections, the NWC of the APC reportedly communicated Akeredolu’s suspension to him following a query earlier issued him by the national leadership of the ruling party, urging him to defend allegations of anti-party activities leveled against him by some prominent members of the party across the state. Party sources told The Nation that scores of petitions were received by the NWC from members of the APC in the state on the matter.

    Reports claim the governor was told in clear terms that he will remain on suspension from the party for engaging in anti-party activities until a decision is taken on whether to expel him from the ruling party or have him punished in other ways as allowed by the constitution of the party. While the party is yet to make an official statement confirming the reports, it has also failed to issue a statement debunking the reports.

    Early last month, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Isa-Onilu, after the meeting presided over by Oshiomhole, the APC announced that Akeredolu’s anti-party activities “greatly affected the fortunes of its candidates in the recently conducted Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.” Isa-Onilu, while speaking to reporters, also confirmed that a query had been sent to Akeredolu based on the directive of the NWC.

    “Yes, it has been done. The query has been sent to him according to the NWC’s resolution,” he said, while adding that he couldn’t tell whether the governor had responded to the query at the time or not. “It is not to my knowledge whether he has replied the query. You know that it is not my department that handles that particular assignment. I am not the one to receive his reply if he has done so. But I know that a query has been dispatched to him,” he said.

    However, Segun Ajiboye, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, while insisting that reports of the suspension are untrue, said his boss has yet to receive any query from the party’s National Working Committee. “As far as we are concerned, it is a rumour. The governor did not receive any query. The matter itself is an internal affair of the party which will be handled by the party.”

    Meanwhile, checks at the secretariat of the party revealed that the APC’s NWC may had on the first day of March, taken the decision to issue a query to the governor following its conclusion that Akeredolu has some explanations to make over some of his activities during the last general elections in the state as alleged in some of the petitions received by the party against him.

     

    Unending spats

    Recently, Otito Atikase, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Akeredolu on Political Affair’s, re-ignited the face-off in the embattled state chapter of the APC when he accused the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, and the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, of being behind the travails of the governor in the party. According to him, some forces are bent on working against Akeredolu at all cost.

    “Akeredolu is a principled man who does not play politics with anything goes. “He will not allow anything that is not right to be done. Tinubu and Oshiomhole should not rule the party for their expansionist and narrow agenda. All I can see is the aftermath of the defeat Tinubu suffered when he sponsored Alliance for Democracy, AD, against Akeredolu in 2016.What disciplinary action did the party put in place?

    Oshiomhole, on the other hand, wanted his candidate to be picked after him in Edo but Akeredolu supported the man on the seat-Obaseki. Adams was very angry, so he became Chairman of the party to witch-hunt our governor. All I know is that Ondo people will determine who governs them. The God who brought Akeredolu to governance is not dead but reigns supreme over them,” Atikase said.

    But Bola Ilori, a chieftain of the party, accused Governor Akeredolu, of being the “spanner in the cog of wheel” of peace in the party. The former Commissioner for Regional Integration in Osun State said Akeredolu’s vengefulness and uncooperative attitude are the root causes of the lingering disunity and disharmony within the state chapter of the APC.

    “It was well reported on national headlines that Akeredolu organised an attack on me at the venue of an official government assignment in Akure. We were to go to court, but some elders of the party, led by Chief Bisi Akande, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Pius Akinyelure and others, intervened. They appealed to all aggrieved against the gubernatorial election processes to drop all further agitation and return to the party and embrace unity.

    “I also wish to place on the record that, as the Director General of the Alliance for Democracy campaigns in 2016, I don’t have any record of funding received from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola or Senator Ajayi Boroffice for the AD. I dare Akeredolu and his team to come up with such fact. Let it be noted that neither Asiwaju Tinubu nor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola directed us to the AD nor funded the party.

    “They did not campaign for the party to the best of my record, also. If any of Akeredolu minions is in possession of substantive evidence against any of our leaders let such fellow come forward with it or forever keep their peace. We, as adults have rights to our independent actions and Asiwaju never encourage sycophancy, he promotes robust intellectual discuss and don’t see dissent as a crime, yet we voluntarily hold him in high esteem,” Ilori countered.

     

    Fresh trouble

    Sadly, efforts to resolve the differences among the chieftains of the party appear not to be yielding fruits. Instead, a fresh face-off recently erupted between the camps of Governor Akeredolu and Senator Borrofice over a petition filed against the victory of the Senator at the National Assembly Election last February. As we speak, some aggrieved members of the party have ruled out reconciliation with the governor, accusing him of still working against the party.

    Specifically, Boroffice recently accused Akeredolu of instigating a petition against him at the election tribunal. In a statement by his Press Secretary, Kayode Fakuyi, the Senator claimed the governor’s loyalist, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, sponsored a petition against him at the Election Petition Tribunal as the candidate of the APC, in the last election in the state. He also insisted that Akeredolu was in the know of the said petition.

    The statement was in response to an earlier claim by one of the governor’s aides that Akeredolu intervened on behalf of the APC and Boroffice by asking the Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN), to withdraw the petition it submitted to the tribunal over the absence of its logo on the ballot paper. The petition was subsequently withdrawn to save Borrofice’s mandate.

    But Fakuyi said: “The Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN) did not actually file petition against INEC and Boroffice. It was the senatorial candidate of Action Alliance (AA) for Ondo North, Mr. Tunji Abayomi, who sponsored the case on behalf of MPN without the authorisation of the national leadership of MPN.

    “Instructively, Mr. Tunji Abayomi of the Action Alliance could not have sponsored the case without the support and nod of his political leader, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. From the above-stated facts, it is clear Governor Rotimi Akeredolu did not play any such role like role of arbiter in the resolution of the MPN to discontinue a case that was initiated and instituted on its behalf without its authorisation.”

     

    Still a divided House

    As part of the effort to resolve the crisis before the last general election, a Peace and Reconciliation Committee was inaugurated by the party in January. Speaking during the inauguration of the 15 man committee, Adetimehin had said the committee was put in place to resolve all the crises within the party ahead of the election. He also charged the committee to draw from their political experience to ensure that every aggrieved member of the party is pacified.

    “You have been carefully selected. I charge you to represent the party well and justify the confidence reposed in you. You are not going to judge anyone but write and submit a report to us based on what you meet on the field,” he said back then. He urged the committee, which was decentralised into senatorial zones, to submit its report to the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, within the next one week. But it appears nothing good came out of the assignment of the peace committee.

    Currently, a number of other leading figures of the APC in Ondo State, including former chairman of the party, Isaac Kekemeke, a former Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, as well as a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bamidele Baderinwa, are currently at loggerheads with the governor and his people. Reliable party sources said most of the aggrieved members are not ready for the reconciliation.

    When contacted, the Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Ade Adetimehin, said stories of crises and disagreements in the party are being sponsored by enemies of the party. According to him, before, during and after the elections, the party was and remained united. “I want to tell you that there is no crisis in our party. We remain one and that is why we are doing great in the state. The APC in Ondo State is moving forward and we have no problem.”

    But a group within the state chapter of the party disagrees with Adetimehin. According to the Mandate Group, the crisis currently troubling the APC in Ondo State is capable of affecting the chances of the party in the forthcoming gubernatorial election and as such, should promptly be looked into by the national leadership of the ruling party. The group also wants the state leadership of the party sacked.

    The group, which has been complaining that Governor Akeredolu was working against the interest of the party said Akeredolu and the state party chairman actually worked for the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar in the election, attributing the PDP victory in the state to the anti-party activities carried out by the governor.

    Addressing newsmen at the APC national secretariat, the group’s Publicity Secretary, Comrade Olugbenga Bojuwomi, said they have evidence that Akeredolu did not vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and all APC candidates in the Feb. 23 Presidential and National Assembly Elections. The aggrieved party members also blamed the governor and the leadership of the party in the state for the disunity within the party in the state.

  • 2019: APC NWC, Governorship candidates in crucial meeting

    The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is holding a crucial meeting with state Chairmen abs Secretaries ahead of the Presidential election scheduled for this weekend.

    The meeting which started at about 8.30pm also have in attendance, governorship candidates of the party with the exemption seating governors who also candidates.

    An initial media invitation reads “A special meeting between the National Working Committee (NWC) and State Chairmen, Secretaries, Governorship and Senatorial Candidates will hold today (Sunday 10/2/19). Venue: APC National Secretariat. Time: 7pm.”

    However the media invitation was later withdrawn as it was not to be for media coverage.

    The Nation gathered that the state Chairmen, Secretaries and governorship candidates were briefed on preparation for the elections and what is expected them.

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    The chairmen and candidates also reportedly briefed the NWC on their preparation for the election and the challenges.

    Senatorial candidates who were supposed to be part of the meeting were later excluded.

    The meeting is being presided over by the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

    There was no official statement after the meeting which ended at about 9.30 pm as all the chairmen and candidates as well as NWC members left the Secretariat without speaking with the press.

  • APC Zonal Chair accuses Oyegun of impunity

    The National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-South, Utufam Hilliard Eta, on Friday, alleged gross impunity by the National Working Committee (NWC) in the running of the party’s affairs.

    Eta, speaking to reporters at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja accused the national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and the National Organising Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso, in particular, of treating the party’s constitution with contempt.

    “In my place, we have a saying that when a lizard falls into a ditch, it becomes a plaything for the fowl. The party has now become a plaything between the National Chairman and the National Organizing Secretary,” he said, citing the crisis in the APC in Cross River State.

    His words: “ I do things according to the law. The NWC has not been invited on any matter concerning Cross Rivers state.

    “Until such is done, I will present to my colleagues a detailed narrative of how this constitution has been violated so that a particular narrative will be instituted or established in Cross Rivers state. Until such a meeting is held I can do nothing.

    “But if you must know, a lot of the National Working Committee members have been complaining about the extra-constitutional processes that go on at the National Secretariat, especially under the watch of Osita Izunazo, the Organising Secretary.”

    He also accused the party’s Deputy National Chairman, South, Engr. Segun Oni of complicity in the matter, adding that what was expected of the party leadership was to have given all the necessary support to the reconciliation committee headed by a former Lagos state Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    “From all intents and purposes, these issues are orchestrated…you know, the Asiwaju committee was constituted just a few days ago and these issue has been hanging on Cross River state since the appointment of the Minister.

    “The question that you will now ask is how come that immediately after the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu committee was constituted by the president, the National Chairman the Deputy National Chairman, South and the National Organizing Secretary became so much in a hurry, so much interested and so much aggressive in their attempt to have this all-important chairman that they could not have in more than two years. What is the purpose?”

    Continuing, Eta said: “There was a consensus in the Cross River state chapter that we should have a congress to bring in a substantive chairman since the erstwhile chairman had been appointed as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

    “That was the agreement by the people of Cross River state and based on that, I wrote on behalf of the zone to the National Working Committee NWC to give the zone the authority to conduct a congress to that effect and the NWC said I should liaise with the office of the National Organizing Secretary (headed by Sen. Osita Izunaso) for that purpose.

    “We had set November 28 last year for that Congress to happen but unfortunately, a member of the party went to court and got an injunction and served the processes on the party. So, based on the advice of the National Legal Adviser, we were asked to stay action as a party.

    “So in the next NWC meeting when the matter of Cross Rivers came up I was asked to make comments on what happened and why we couldn’t conduct congresses and the resolution of the NWC was that because we were very close to conducting congresses nationwide, that all congresses to fill vacant positions in the country, not just in the state should be set aside and that all the vacant positions would be filled at the same time during the congresses that would be held simultaneously to bring in new executives. That was the resolution of the NWC.

    “I was away and it was a surprise to me to receive a text message on my phone purportedly sent by the party’s Deputy National Chairman, South, Engr. Segun Oni inviting stakeholders of Cross River state to the secretariat ostensibly to discuss the issue of the chairmanship, in direct contrast and contravention to the position of the NWC.

    “I now wrote a letter handing over the matter of Cross River state to the Asiwaju-led reconciliation committee because in my thinking the crisis that engulfed the state chapter needs reconciliation before any congress is conducted.

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    “If you read the Electoral Act and the constitution of the party and the nation, they were violated simply because the contrivance by Osita, the Minister of Niger Delta and the National Chairman of the party must come to pass regardless of how many laws are broken.

    “First, for us to have a congress, the constitution says there has to be a 14 days notice given to the jurisdiction where the Congress would happen. The notice was given verbally and Osita said the notice was given before November 28.”

    Eta explained that only 109 statutory delegates participated in the purported February 24 congress organized by the party while INEC also refused to attend. According to him, six delegates from each of the 196 wards in the state were also not part of the said Congress.

  • PDP suspends Deputy National Chairman (North)

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has suspended its Deputy National Chairman (North) Sen. Gamawa Babayo, over allegation of dereliction of duty and anti-party activity.

    National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan said that Babayo was suspended by the National Working Committee (NWC).

    The committee held an extra-ordinary session on Jan. 5, where it critically reviewed the petition against the deputy national chairman (North).

    “The NWC found merit in the petition on allegation of dereliction of duty and anti-party activity as contained in Section 58 (1) e, f, g, h of the PDP Constitution.

    “Therefore, in exercise of section 29 (2) a, b and c, the NWC hereby invokes Section 59 (1) d of the constitution of the PDP on the Deputy National Chairman (North) and accordingly suspends him from the party immediately.”

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    The PDP has been buffeted by a wave of desertions by members in both the North West and North East of the party.

    On Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari formally received various members of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Support Groups from the North East, who defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    In Kano, a former governorship candidate, Engineer Bello Sani-Gwarzo dumped the party and also joined the APC.

  • APC NASS tickets: NWC okays candidates for Ondo

    The suspense and anxiety surrounding the outcome of the National Assembly primaries of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) in Ondo State appear to be over.

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the party yesterday okayed candidates who will contest the National Assembly election on its platform.

    The intra party exercise of the party had been marred by intrigues, horse trading as well as other factors which created tension within the party in the state. It was gathered that the frosty relationship between Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and the APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole almost led to an outright cancellation of the outcome of the exercise but for the prompt intervention of party leaders on behalf of the governor.

    All the same, the governor was said to have lost some grounds, especially in the senatorial contest as all his preferred choices, but one, were dropped. Those who made the list include the following: Senators Robert Ajayi Borofice(North); Donald Tayo Alasoadura( Central) and Yele Omogunwa(South).

    On the list of approved House of Representatives candidates are former security aide to Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi  while he was governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, Ade Adeogun(Akoko South west/south east); Bunmi Oni (Akoko North West/ North East); Timehin Adelegbe(Ose/Owo); Jimmy Faloye(Akure North/South); Hon. Ola Baderinwa(Idanre/Ifedore); Dr Jibayo Adeyeye(Ondo East/West), Hon. mayo Akinfolarin (Odigbo/Ileoluji Okeigbo);

    Hon Akintoye Albert(Irele/Okitipupa) as well as a top flight journalist, Donald Ojogo(Ilaje/Ese-Odo).

    Our correspondent gathered that the Form CF001 have already been despatched to the Ondo State office of the APC for completion by all affected candidates.

  • APC NWC sacks Zamfara party exco

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday dissolved the party executives at all levels in Zamfara State .

    Mr Yekini Nabena, the APC acting National Publicity said in a statement that  by the decision, all supposed party factions in the state stand dissolved.

    He added that the APC NWC-inaugurated committee for Zamfara are to conduct the governorship and legislative primaries in the state.

    He stressed that Governor  Abdul’aziz Yari and the dissolved state exco should not interfere in the primary elections.

    Nabena added that the Zamfara governorship and legislative primaries would take place  today and tomorrow.

  • Kogi: ‘My clearance offer quality representation’

    A People’s Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant for the Kogi East Senatorial district, Victor Adoji, has described his clearance by the National Working Committee as positive.

    He stated this in a chat with newsmen shortly after receiving the certificate of clearance, adding that is was the beginning of a journey to offer quality representation.

    Read Also: Kogi flood victims to get relief materials

    “This is an impetus to offer a representation that is unusual,” he said.

    He commended the PDP for its due diligence, assuring that under his representation, the Igala Bassa nation that has long been relegated would once again bounce back.

     

  • PDP dissolves Kano exco despite court order

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday announced  the dissolution of the  Kano State Executive Committee of the party.

    The dissolution came three days after a Kano State High Court restrained the National Headquarters of the party  and its  national  Chairman, Prince  Uche Secondus from “doing  anything or taking any steps that are likely to interfere with or disturb the officers tenure which are  protected under Section47 (1).”

    The order is supposed to subsist until the determination of the substantive suit filed by Umar Mai Goro and four others against Secondus , the PDP and the state chairman of the party, Mas’ud El-Jibrin Doguwa.

    National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said yesterday  in Abuja that the decision to dissolve the party’s state exco was reached by the national leadership of the party on Thursday.

    He added: “Consequently, a Caretaker Committee has been constituted to pilot the affairs of the state chapter of the party. Details of the Caretaker Committee would be made public in due course.

    “All members of the party in Kano state and across the nation should be guided accordingly.”

    Sources said in Kano that the dissolution is aimed at accommodating loyalists of former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The court gave the applicants in the suit the nod to  serve the 1st and 2nd Respondents the originating process outside the jurisdiction of the Court at Federal Capital Territory Abuja. It  fixed 5th November 2018 to hear the notice on motion.

  • Bayelsa APC disowns ex-chair, faults defection claims

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), Bayelsa State Chapter, has disowned its former Chairman, Mr. Tiwei Orunimighe, dismissing his claims of defecting to another party with APC members.

    The APC in a statement on Tuesday by its state Publicity Secretary, Doifie Buokoribo, said Orunimighe reserved the right to join any party of his choice, but to try to use APC as leverage in negotiations with his new party was irresponsible.

    It explained that “Orunimighe and his group of renegades were expelled” from APC for antiparty activities since August last year by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

    The party advised members of the public to disregard the defection claim by “people who want to join a party of their choice,” saying, “APC in Bayelsa State remains intact, united, strong, and focused.”

    Read Also: I’m not bothered about defections in APC – Buhari

    The statement said: “It has come to the knowledge of the All Progressives Congress, Bayelsa State Chapter, that a certain Mr. Timipa Tiwei Orunimighe is claiming membership of our party. In negotiations with another party which he wishes to join, the said Orunimighe is presenting himself as a member of APC planning to ‘defect’ to another party with about ‘100 of his followers’.

    “We have no problems with Orunimighe joining any party of his choice. It is within his rights to so do. However, to claim that he is defecting from our party with more than 100 members is false, misleading and irresponsible.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the APC in Bayelsa State used to have a chairman named Mr Timipa Tiwei Orunimighe. Orunimighe and his group of renegades were expelled since August last year for anti-party activities.

    “They were expelled by the APC National Working Committee (NWC) via a letter with reference no: APC/HDQ/SSZ/31/017/002. The letter was signed by Hon. Mai Mala Buni, National Secretary. As at today, Orunimighe and his group are not members of our party.

    “We call on unsuspecting members of the public not to allow themselves to be duped Into believing the campaign of disinformation that some people who want to join a party of their choice are defecting from our party. APC in Bayelsa state remains intact, united, strong, and focused”.