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Tag: new PDP

  • New PDP returns to old tricks

    For the All Progressives Congress (APC), this is an anxious moment. Reminiscent of the pre-2015 election period, when the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) sprang up to liquidate the acclaimed largest party in Africa, some chieftains yesterday announced the formation of the ‘Reformed APC’ to coordinate the onslaught against the ruling party.

    APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole, who tried frantically to avert it, now has a big challenge on his hands.

    Can he stop the predictable defection from the APC? Can he avert the disintegration of the ruling party? Can he persuade the aggrieved chieftains to sheath their swords? What is the way out of the logjam?

    According to observers, the APC has no formidable competitor in next year’s elections; it is now evident that it has so much trouble to deal with within than without.

    Prominent APC chieftains have constituted themselves into a curious internal opposition within the fold. Thus, while APC appears unperturbed by the activities of the main opposition party, the PDP, and other smaller rivals, it can only ignore the antics of its internal opposition leaders to its peril.

    The bone of contention in the APC is not ideology. Neither is it the welfare of the common man. There is a clash of ego. Those fighting within are fighting the battle of relevance and survival. They crave for more party powers and access to the inner corridor of power, where President Muhammdu Buhari, who seems to have a different vision and mission, is aloof and indifferent to their cravings.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki is on trial for alleged corruption. He has also been linked with bandits who broke banks in the deadly Offa robbery. He expects a sympathetic presidential ear. The Bauchi home front is hot for House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, owing to the war of attrition between him and Governor Muhammed Abubakar. He believes the President should intervene on his side.

    Members of the so-called ‘Reformed APC” have returned to the drawing board. The pre-2015 tactics of the nPDP is on their palms. The defection ravaged and devastated the then ruling party. When nPDP members dumped their former camp en mass, there was no remedy. Therefore, the “Reformed APC” or put succinctly, “nAPC,” is on a familiar path.

    Defection can only be condoned under the law if there is crisis in the party. Yet, the APC has been surviving its crisis, including the furore over congresses. The onus is now on the Reformed APC to orchestrate a crisis as a prelude to its final decision to jump ship. A shift of allegiance to a new party is legally permissible. But, it is at a cost. The parliamentary defectors forfeit their seats. But, if they can manage to successfully instigate crisis, they can hold on to their legislative positions, just as former House of Representatives Speaker Waziri Tambuwal did and escaped sanctions in 2014.

    Those behind the new plot are skilled in the art of defection to score some points. Former nPDP leader Kawu Baraje is ready to fuel the ‘rebellion’ with his rich experience.

    It is ironical that the ‘Reformed APC’ has no clear agenda for party reforms.

    To observers, the doomsday was only postponed. Since the beginning of the Buhari administration, the APC has been fighting internal battles. The party was nearly suffocated in an atmosphere of strife and rancour. Although it has the majority in the National Assembly, it has never translated that to cordial relations between the legislature and the executive.

    In the past, the logjam was attributed to the weakness of the party caucus, which should have moderated the tension between the presidency and the National Assembly. Also, reconciliation in the APC has been slow. Many stalwarts are erecting obstacles on the way of the process. When he assumed the reins last week, Oshiomhole promised to swing into action.

    Already, those who are likely to defect are locked in partisan fraternity with the PDP. The motivation is personal interest, which is fundamental in politics. There is a realignment of forces. Also, there is a clash of permutations. When the national convention was going on in Abuja, Senator Rabiu Kwakwanso was meeting with the PDP presidential aspirant, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in another location. Just this week, Tambuwal was holding court with Rivers State Governor Nyeson Wike in Port Harcourt. Saraki’s Chief of Staff Hakeem BabaAhmed called it quits with the APC.

    What next? It is believed that the aggrieved chieftains have made up their minds to defect. But, the defection is still being delayed for strategic reasons. Can the national chairman stem the tide?

    If potential defectors bid APC farewell, will it herald the disintegration of the ruling party? Will the defectors go back to the PDP, with all its baggage? Will the PDP change its name as it is being speculated? Will the defectors team up with former President Olusegun Obasanjo? Will their defection cripple the APC? Will it abort President Buhari’s second term ambition?

    Certainly, there is a split in the nPDP. There is no consensus. The current action is not a unanimous decision. In the Southwest, the activities of the Reformed APC will not have impact. In the Southsouth, which is a PDP-dominated zone, and the Southeast, where zonal APC leaders are trying to persuade their kith and kin to support the President, it will create a setback for mobilisation. But, not beyond what happened in 2015 when the zone rejected the APC. The battle front is the North, where pro-Buhari forces will now gird their loins in anticipation of titanic battle with anti-Buhari forces.

    Generally, it is doubtful if the activities of the Reformed APC will produce the same impact like that of the pre-2015 nPDP ahead of next year’s polls. The reasons are obvious. There is split in the camp of the internal agitators. The public perception of some of their arrowheads is a big factor. Preliminary steps have been taken to reduce the effects of defections in states that may likely be hit by the defections. Also, unlike what happened in the PDP in 2014/2015, majority of party leaders will not desert the president in his bid for a second term.

  • New PDP will not pull out of APC, says Apugo

    Prince Benjamin Apugo is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State. In this interview with reporters in Umuahia, the state capital, he speaks about the fortune of the APC in the state, Igbo presidency in 2023 and why the new Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not pull out of the ruling party. SUNNY NWANKWO was there.

    YOU said it will be tragic for the PDP to rule Abia State for another four years. Why did you say that?

    I said that because there is no Abia State again in the real sense of it. So, if the PDP rules for another four years, everybody here will die of hunger and malnutrition. There is no water here, no road, no infrastructure and no electricity. Schools are also not functioning well. School leavers have no employment; there is no stadium and no good market.

    The Ikpeazu administration is constructing roads in Aba. Are you not satisfied with that?

    I am from Umuahia; I am an Umuahia Prince, so I cannot talk about Aba. If the people of Aba say they are okay with what is happening there, that is for them. But for Umuahia, in fact the entire old Bende, there is no single thing constructed by the PDP government. You are here in my home town, Umuahia, go round and see if there is anywhere you will see one block that was erected in the past three years or one road that was constructed eight years ago.

    What’s the way forward?

    The way forward is for the APC to win this state; the people should vote for Buhari, the APC governorship candidate and all the senators and members of the House of Representatives that will come on the platform of the APC, including members of the State Assembly. People may not know why I support Buhari to win in 2019. One, we are going to have a president of Igbo extraction after Buhari; APC will give us nomination. That is one number. Number two is that Buahri has done well in the area of security. I know when former President Goodluck Jonathan was there, Boko Haram insurgents came almost to Abuja. But since Buhari came in, their activities have been confined to a few areas in the Northeast. Another reason is that he has tried to fix Nigeria by tackling corruption.

    The ‘nPDP’ has threatened to pull out of APC, if certain demands are not met. As a member of that group, are you in support of that line of action? 

    The nPDP will not pull out of the APC. How can we pull out from the house we built? We were the ones that made Buhari to win; he had contested the presidency three times and lost. It was when the nPDP came in that we mobilised our people to ensure victory for him. The truth is that some people are trying to hijack the nPDP as a bloc; it is not acceptable. The mistake Buhari made is not recognizing the nPDP in his administration; he did not put our own people in positions of trust. Nevertheless, we have no regret that we made Jonathan to lose the 2015 election; our aim and objective was to ensure that Jonathan was voted out. Now, there is no crack in the bloc. Abubakar Kawu Baraje, who is talking today, is the cause of our problem, because he did not negotiate anything with those from other parties who came together to form the APC. After the little documents we signed, Baraje never went back to negotiate what we in the nPDP will get after the election. Let me tell you people, we cannot leave the APC. Who are we leaving it for? No, what I think we should do is coordinate ourselves properly and in doing that, we should not bring in personal issues that happened even before our merger with the APC, by contemplating pulling out of the APC.

    Any former member who returns to the PDP should not seen himself as a human being, because there must have been a reason he or she left, particularly seeing the corruption that PDP perpetrated. How will people see anyone who goes back to the party? In fact, for me, I would have said anybody from the PDP coming into the APC now should be rejected, because the whole of their body is corruption. So, we should have a meeting, coordinate ourselves properly and go to Mr. President and present the level of marginalization we are facing, particularly in non-APC states like Abia. People voted for Buhari here, even if it is one thousand votes he got from Abia, we’ve not gotten anything, because even the school feeding programme the Federal Government is funding, the money is channeled through the PDP government.

    I have asked several times for the resuscitation of the position of Presidential Liaison Officers (PLOs) that were created during President Shehu Shagari’s time. Buhari should create PLOs for non-APC states; they can look after the people that are supposed to be opposition.

    You said the APC will win Abia in 2019. Do you have the right candidate to achieve this?

    Well, you see, time changes everything. Even if we don’t have it today, we may have it tomorrow or we may have it before the primaries.

    Your party has indicated that it will not zone the governorship in 2019. Will this not affect the party at the poll?

    Let me tell you something, we’ve been doing elections in this state and it has always been thrown open to all aspirants. During the time Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Ngwa people contested, even when Chief T.A Orji contested, Ngwa still people contested. So, nobody has zoned the governorship of this state to anywhere in the past. It’s open to all; it’s open to anybody that is an Abia son; even if you are not from Abia and you have stayed here for one year, according to the Electoral Act, you can vie for the governorship. Forget about what some defeated people are writing in the newspapers. What they are writing is not what the people want; the people want PDP voted out. Having said that, if an Ngwa man comes and he is good, nothing stops us from giving him the ticket.

    Are you satisfied with the representation of Abia Central in the Senate?  

    Is anybody representing us in the Senate? Nobody is representing us there. T.A Orji did not represent us when he was governor here, how can he represent us as a senator? He was in Umuahia for 16 years; he was the Chief of Staff for eight years and governor for another eight years and did not represent us, because there is nothing to show for it.

    You did not participate in the last APC congresses in Abia. Could this be attributed to the crack in the party? Which camp do you belong to?

    I started politics at the age of 26 and at the age 28, I became the Deputy State Chairman of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Before then, I was the chairman of Ikwuano/Umuahia Local Government of the NPN. The Nigerian Peoples’ Party (NPP) was ruling then in old Imo State. So, I have seen several congresses over a period of time. As at today, I should not be attending congresses to vote for somebody; I should attend their ceremony when they are inaugurating whoever that wins. That is why if you had expected to see me at the venue of the congresses, you are wrong. Rather, I will wait for them to come and tell me that the congress was conducted peacefully.

    As for the camp I belong to, if you are talking about Ikechi Emenike, I brought him into the party; there is no way he will have a camp and I will have another camp. So, the answer is that there are no two camps in Abia APC. The man that claims to be the chairman, Ndukwe, I appointed him state secretary. I never knew him before; it was one of my sons that brought him to me when some bigwigs of the party in the Southeast insisted I must have a candidate in the state Exco. It was the quarrel between him and Nwamkpa, the state chairman that made him to run to Emenike. So, we have no faction. Nwamkpa was appointed then as the state chairman. Today, he has contested and won as the state chairman.

    Since the PDP is in power, are you not deterred by the power of incumbency?  

    You are talking about power of incumbency, wasn’t former President Jonathan an incumbent? When people say no to you, you are finished. The chorus in Abia now is no to the PDP.

    Governor Okorocha is insisting that his son in-law would be the next governor of Imo state. Does that not amount to godfatherism, which the APC wants to kill?

    In the first place, you cannot kill godfatherism in Nigerian politics, because you are not God. It is only God that will kill it. An individual cannot kill anything God has made. But, having said that, there are certain things we are not supposed to talk about. No matter the positions we occupy, we should not be arrogating that power of God to ourselves. That is what brought about the downfall of former President Jonathan. I showed him my card at the Eagle Square and said I would not vote for you and I did that. So, I did my own, God performed the rest. Let’s not think about something we cannot do. I’m not from Imo, but I like what Imo people are saying; that they should be given a free hand to choose who they want and if at the end of the day the in-law emerges, he becomes the candidate of the party. So, Okorocha was too quick to have said it was his son-in-law or nobody else. He should have allowed the son in-law to vie for the governorship primary, if he emerges; he becomes the candidate for APC. I think it is only God that decides what one man cannot do.

     

  • PDP will overcome latest factional crisis – Adeyeye

    PDP will overcome latest factional crisis – Adeyeye

    The immediate past spokesman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Dayo Adeyeye, has expressed dismay at the latest factional crisis in the party.

    Adeyeye said the defunct National Caretaker Committee handed over a “highly united party” to the new National Working Committee (NWC) led by Prince Uche Secondus.

    He said it would be a “big disappointment” if the party leaders start another factional crisis, adding that the rift will be resolved very soon.

    A group of aggrieved members led by one Emmanuel Nwosu had on Wednesday formed a splinter group known as Fresh PDP following crisis that trailed the December 9 national convention of the party.

    They kicked against the conduct of the convention, citing the emergence of a “unity list” as a major flaw in the exercise.

    Adeyeye spoke with journalists in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday shortly after he was welcomed back to his home state by thousands of supporters.

    Adeyeye said: “I am now home, I am no longer in the executive of the PDP and you know that we have just handed over after serving the party.

    “It will be a big disappointment if we start another (factional) crisis; as far as the National Caretaker Committee in which I served is concerned, we have handed over a united PDP.

    “We have conducted a credible convention, the first real elective convention in the history of the party and it was very successful.

    “We had anticipated that there would be problems after this convention and that was why we set up a reconciliation committee headed by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State.

    “He has swung into action already, he is already working. I believe that if we all give support to that committee, it will be able to solve these problems.

    “I believe that within the next weeks, we will get over these problems. It is not unexpected but I believe we will get over our problems.”

  • New PDP faction emerges, opens secretariat in Abuja

    New PDP faction emerges, opens secretariat in Abuja

    A new faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday opened a new secretariat for the party in Asokoro District of Abuja.

    The PDP duly recognized national secretariat is located at Wuse, Zone 5, Abuja.

    The faction was reportedly formed by a group of five men namely – Prince Obi Nwosu, Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Chief Olusola Akindele, Chief Godwin Duru and Franklyne Edede.

    The men are believed to be loyalists of one of the chairmanship aspirants in the party’s national convention held on December 9.

    Nwosu, who is the leader of the group, told journalists that the process leading to the emergence of the Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) was fraught with illegality and abuse of electoral process.

    The slogan of the new group is “Fresh PDP, PDP First.”

     

  • On the APC, New PDP nuptials

    On the APC, New PDP nuptials

    Former Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is down. In his long years in politics and power the 77-year old has staggered from one scandal to another, but often staged improbable comebacks. This last week he was ignominiously ejected from the Senate because of his conviction on a tax-fraud case. That’s not the end of his troubles: he’s been ordered to stand trial for bribing a senator and is appealing a conviction in June for having sex with an underage prostitute – Karima El Mahroug aka Ruby the Heart Stealer – and abusing his office to cover it up. Clearly, a case of power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely. Will the day ever come when such a character will face justice in these parts?

    Except for the blindly partisan, most reasonable people welcome the ongoing political shake-up which has seen the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) splinter group New PDP merge with the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Going into what promises to be a hotly contested general election in 2015, there are now no guarantees how things would pan out. Don’t be deceived by the PDP’s attempt at insouciance. They would be foolish not to be worried about what is unfolding.

    It is not every day that a party loses five of its governors to a rival. Looming ominously in the horizon is the prospect that more will jump ship when the elements are right. Even before the defection, the G-7 governors had often said that a few other colleagues within the PDP would move at the appropriate time.

    There is nothing for the ruling party to celebrate in the fact that Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and his Niger counterpart, Babangida Aliyu, insist they are still part of PDP. True, there are no permanent friends or foes in politics still I don’t see how these two can continue in the ruling party. Even if Jonathan capitulates and accedes to all their demands they would never again be trusted by the party’s high command.

    Last week’s developments have rearranged the political landscape such that it is no longer unduly tilted in favour of the ruling party. A newly competitive environment emerged.

    Many have focused on counting governors. But to get a real sense of the changing power dynamic, we must look to the National Assembly. Before now President Goodluck Jonathan could reasonably expect his legislative agenda to sail through with minimal fuss. This may no longer be the case – especially in the House of Representatives.

    For the first time in a very long while Nigeria is about to go into a phase of divided government – where the executive branch is controlled by one party, while the legislature is in the hands of the opposition.

    If the messy United States government shutdown is any advertisement for divided government, we should all brace ourselves for a chaotic time ahead. But this dreaded arangement is not all about obstruction: it is one side asking hard questions and insisting that parliament not be a rubber stamp for decisions the executive has already taken.

    In this age where the image of government at all levels is so dismal, the prospect of robust checks and balances rather than frighten, should give us hope that the train of impunity that has been running out of control can be reined in.

    So much has been made of the untidy nature of the fusion. One day it is seven governors, the next two of them are denying dumping the PDP. In some states the erstwhile lords of the manor in APC have been less than enthusiastic in welcoming the New PDP hordes that look set to gobble them up.

    For me these are minor points of cavil. Politics is messy business. Anyone who was expecting the unprecedented movement of five governors from one party to another – each with his own agenda and local worries – to be without hiccups must be living on another planet.

    Frankly, what the APC has pulled off is remarkable. At every point they were written off. When the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) came together their opponents dismissed the new grouping as a contraption that would collapse within months.

    When that didn’t happen, they began speculating that the arrangement would founder because of the personalities of Bola Tinubu and Muhammadu Buhari. Again, their dire predictions have not manifested.

    So now they cynically dismiss the latest stage of the APC evolution as the merger of strange bedfellows. This supposes that what we have in the PDP, Labour Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to name a few is a banding together of birds of a feather. Spare me!

    Depend on it: the merger of the APC and New PDP elements would throw up turbulence and disagreements from time to time. It will produce pain – even reverse movement when some people don’t get what they want. But then nature teaches us that the process of delivering a new baby can be painful and messy. To expect anything less is to fool ourselves.

    Thanks to the merger newspapers are now full of talk about ideology. This sudden fixation is so amusing because no one can tell you what the guiding philosophy of any of the current parties is – other than they all have a template of policies they would supposedly implement in office. The best you’ll get from any of them is that: a mere election manifesto.

    Ideological battles as we used to know them in the Cold War days died with that era. Harsh dividing lines between capitalism, communism, socialism and welfarism have become largely blurred. Philosophies of governance are now so indistinguishable that it is hard to tell what is driving what. Russia and China which used to be avowedly communist are now as capitalist as the United States.

    In America there is very little ideological difference between the Democrats and Republican. Both proseletyse about the beauty of markets driving the economy and making government intervention minimal.

    In the era of bitterly divided government in Washington, Barack Obama’s supposedly more left-leaning government has acceded to cutting government spending on social welfare programmes with a fervor that a typical conservative would envy. What now sets them apart are positions on social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.

    So if Nigeria’s emerging two-party arrangement does not throw up the kind of ideological divide to please the purists, too bad. In any event, who the progressive is and who the conservative is in this country has always been a matter of branding. Whatever labels our politicians have worn they have managed to get stuck in the same shortcomings of corruption and mismanagement of public resources.

    Ideology cannot be an end in itself; it ultimately should bring about development. Our people wouldn’t care whether you are socialist or capitalist if they have electricity, running water, healthcare and quality education for their children. Where these things are available the rest is just background noise.

  • New PDP regroups in Bayelsa

    Barely a month after Bayelsa State Government clamped down on members of New Peoples Democratic Party, using the police and other security agencies, they are already regrouping in a determined resolve to take back power in 2015, reports Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu

    There were no pretences about it. The Governor Dickson Seriake- led Government of Bayelsa State was not ready to allow the nurturing of New Peoples Democratic Party in the home state of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    So, in a military fashion, the government promptly deployed the police and other security agencies against known leaders of the new political association, forcing them to go into hiding.

    But barely a month after the development, our investigation confirms that the group, made up mainly of loyalists and associates of the former governor of the state, Timipre Sylva, are already regrouping as they have sworn never to be intimidated by anybody but to take back power in the oil-rich state in 2015.

    Comrade Wilfred Frank Ogbotobo, a former member of CPC’s National Renewal Committee, and now All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftain, who is alleged to be currently involved in alliance negotiations amongst opposition elements in the state and other South-South states, told The Nation in an interview why Sylva’s group is still active and why it could not be crushed so easily by the state government and the police.

    According to him, “Sylva’s rivals did not make any attempt to neutralize his political structure. They were blinded by desperation to just deny him the party ticket and their modus operandi was detested by even ordinary Bayelsans. Rather it whitewashed Timipre Sylva and endeared him to the people. His political clout has grown stronger and his structure impregnable, despite his travails.”

    The battle for the soul of Bayelsa

    The struggle for the soul of Bayelsa State, since the removal of Sylva, preceded the birth of the New PDP. But, according to insider sources, “the leadership of PDP at the centre and the state government became more apprehensive of the activities of the opposition, especially that of the loyalists of former governor Sylva, when it became obvious that they heartily embraced the New PDP.”

    The source said the presidency, aware of the challenge such an opposition at the home state of Mr President could pose, ordered strict measures against it.

    So, stern measures by Bayelsa State Government to stamp out the ‘rebel’ group in the state have been taken openly with the aid of the police and other security operatives and in recent times, such actions were taken at intervals that confirmed the seriousness of the operation.

    When other states were still studying the development in order to determine the best way of responding to the emergence of the splinter group, Bayelsa State took the bull by the horn.

    The state’s resolve came to public knowledge on September 13, 2013, when the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, issued a formal statement, warning people against associating with the splinter political party.

    Describing the new association as illegal, Opara said “no such group or any other organisation not legally registered would be allowed to disrupt the existing peace and tranquility in the state.”

    According to the statement, “the Police and other security agencies in the state have been put on notice and urge members of the public to promptly report the existence or the activities of such illegal groups in any part of the state to the nearest police station or security outfit for necessary action.”

    Confirming the determination of PDP and the state government to work with the police and other security agencies for the execution of that project, the state Deputy Chairman of PDP, Chief Nyananyo Tubo-Miela, told journalists then at the party secretariat in Yenagoa that the party “has set in motion its disciplinary machinery to deal with genuine members who are associated with the claim of a New PDP in the state.”

    He added that “law enforcement agents have also been alerted to handle any ”mischief maker that would want to foment trouble in the state chapter of the PDP.”

    By October, it was time for action. First, the state government formally announced that it has put former Special Adviser on Security Matters to Timipre Sylva and the Interim Chairman of the New PDP in the state, Chief Richard Kpodoh, under security watch. Barely 12 hours after this announcement, the police formally declared him a wanted man.

    Before then, there were reports that the New PDP men in the state had gone into hiding as a result of alleged police manhunt. We gathered that the heat became too hot for them to bear late September and early October, when police dragnet, aimed at fishing out all Sylva’s loyalists in the state was formally extended to their homes and known business premises. It peaked with the police declaration that the politicians were wanted men.

    New moves

    A source close to Sylva confirmed during the week that Sylva’s political associates and their sympathizers have been meeting in the last two weeks outside Bayelsa State. Although he refused to name the location of such meetings, he said: “Top on the agenda of our meetings is how to remain relevant in the politics of Bayelsa State. Unknown to the state government and their Oga in Abuja, we are becoming bigger and better organised. We are now in close contact with people of like minds outside the PDP both within the state and other parts of Nigeria.

    “Today, we have come to see the divine hand in our harassment as it has attracted attention to us. We now have strong friends outside Bayelsa and outside PDP. The talks are ongoing within and outside the South-South states. All I can tell you now is that there would be alliances and cooperations that will ultimately dislodge our oppressors in 2015,” he said.

  • New PDP faults police ban on gatherings at airports

    New PDP faults police ban on gatherings at airports

    The New Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday faulted the police ban on gatherings at airports.

    The police high command placed a ban on gathering at local and international airports.

    It said the ban affected political, socio-cultural or religious gatherings within and around airport premises, including tarmacs, lounges and other sensitive security points.

    A statement by Force spokesman, Frank Mba, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), said the police authorities directed airport commands’ Commissioners of Police and Commissioners of Police in states hosting the airports to enforce the ban.

    The police statement reads: “This is part of deliberate efforts towards averting any security breach and the need to protect critical infrastructure, travellers, aircrew, airport workers and personnel at the nation’s local and international airports.

    “The command commissioners are to ensure that in line with international best practices, firm security measures are taken to safeguard the airports and their critical infrastructure.

    “They are to prevent a situation where the airports are turned into places of political assemblies, religious worship and other social receptions, as there are enough civic centres, town halls, assembly halls, among others, for public meetings, carnivals and celebrations of all kinds.”

    But New PDP’s National Publicity Secretary Chukwuemeka Eze said the ban was an infringement on the rights of the Nigerians to peaceful assembly.

    Eze said: “Under what law were the police acting in preventing harmless Nigerian citizens from assembling at the airport to welcome the august visitors, including a former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari; All Progressives Party (APC) Interim Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; the party’s leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari; Chief Tom Ikimi; former Edo State Governor John Odigie-Oyegun and several others?

    “That the Nigeria Police, which is maintained with taxpayers’ money, allowed itself to become a tool for oppression in the hands of the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led PDP and the ruling party at the centre, is not only unfortunate but also regrettable.

    “Instructively, this is happening a few days after the police in Abuja, led by a Divisional Police Officer (DPO), contemptuously disrupted the caucus meeting of the New Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “Nigerians may remember that we have repeatedly cried out, following the abridging of our fundamental human rights by the police, which have not only illegally sealed our offices across the nation but also clamped down on many of our leaders. Those who thought we were crying wolf can now see that the opposite is the case.”

    Eze hailed Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi for his maturity and political sagacity in the face of provocation by the police.

    The party spokesman also hailed the House of Representatives for inviting the Inspector-GeneralofPolice (IGP) on the ban.

    He said: “We commend Amaechi for refusing to be intimidated and for once more demonstrating his affinity with the masses by abandoning his trip to the Government House and joining his supporters to trek the four kilometres back to the airport to welcome the APC leadership to the state.”

  • Police storm New PDP, G-7 governors Abuja meeting

    Police storm New PDP, G-7 governors Abuja meeting

    Leaders of the New Peoples Democratic Party (NPDP) claimed last night that the police attempted to stop their meeting in Abuja.

    The New PDP leaders were meeting with the G-7 governors, senators and members of the House of Representatives belonging to the group.

    But the police denied storming the meeting.

    A senior officer said: “We went there to ensure everything was in order as part of our routine surveillance of Asokoro. We do that everyday. We did not storm any place. There’s no way we would arrest governors.”

    The policemen came in three cars to the Kano State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro District, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    But the policemen from Asokoro Division failed to stop the meeting. The venue was shut.

    The meeting, which started at about 5.30pm, ended at 9.30pm.

    The Divisional Police Officer, CSP Nnanna Ama, led the policemen.

    Wearing a T-Shirt with Igbo Day inscription, the police chief left when he and his men could not enter the Lodge.

    The policemen returned at about 8.30pm, but they could still not enter the venue.

    The governors, however, invited the DPO into their meeting, The Nation learnt.

    The leaders reviewed the crisis in the PDP.

    They succeeded in holding two sessions, the first with senators and members of the House of Representatives and the other with governors and top leaders of the New PDP.

    Those at the session were Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).

    Also at the meeting were ex-governors Bukola Saraki, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Abdullahi Adamu, Timpre Sylvia, and Segun Oni.

    House of Representatives member Zakari Mohammed, a former National Youth Leader of PDP, Dr. Bibi Farouk and many others were there.

    GovernorsAliyu Wammako of Sokoto and Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State were not at the meeting because of “urgent state matters”. They sent their apologies.

    Others were Kawu Baraje, Deputy Chairman Sam Sam Jaja; National Secretary Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Vice-Chairman, Northwest, Ibrahim Kazuare.

    Speaking with reporters after the meeting Aliyu and Kwankwaso condemned the “invasion”.

    Oyinlola said: “We were holding our meeting with the governors when the DPO of Asokoro came in to say that he had instructions to disperse us from holding meeting or else effect our arrest.

    “ We were surprised that in spite of the fact that the consultations on the resolution of the PDP crisis had been put on hold as a result of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mecca. And it was made known to all Nigerians that we will continue after the pilgrimage break. It is for the continuation of the reconciliation process that we were meeting here only for the DPO to come.

    “And we said ‘okay’ if you had instructions that we should not hold the meeting, we were ready to be arrested. We felt that this is the height of impunity for a DPO to have the guts to tell a group of governors to say we cannot meet. I think it was not as bad as this even during the military era.

    “We told him that we were ready for arrest and he should go and bring his troops to effect the arrest. So, we continued the meeting and we finished our meeting.”

    Asked of the outcome of the meeting, Oyinlola added: “The resolution was that we should continue the meeting that was postponed with the President. That was the essence of this meeting.

    Pressed to say if the session discussed the likely defection of the PDP governors to another party, he replied: “ We have not come to that.”

    A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the Baraje faction, Chief Ezendu Chukwuemeka Eze, also explained what transpired.

    The statement said: “The Caucus of the New Peoples Democratic Party (New PDP) met this evening, Sunday, on 3rd November, 2013, at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, to review progress reports, accept the reports of committees and take important decisions on the future of the movement. The Caucus comprises the G7 governors, former governors, present and past senators, past and present members of the House of Representatives, National Working Committee (NWC) members and some elders and stakeholders of the party.

    “Sadly, midway into the meeting, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) incharge of Asokoro Police Unit, CSP Nnanna Ama, burst into the scene and ordered the meeting stopped, threatening to mobilise troops to abort it if his order was not obeyed.

    “According to CSP Ama, he has the directive from the Villa to arrest the governors, if the meeting was not stopped. For a DPO to be sent not only to disrupt a meeting of governors duly elected by Nigerians but to arrest them if they failed to heed his counsel is a sign that these people can decide to disrupt the association of any group of Nigerians at any time knowing that such an act is a breach of the Constitution of our country.

    “Not minding all our past complaints about the impunity and disregard of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by our Security organs and it is saddening that the Federal Government has continued to maintain stoic silence and bluntly refused to call our security agencies to order. This, to us, is one of the wonders of the present administration in Nigeria. What is baffling to us the more is the continuous silence of our elders and past Heads of State on these various acts of impunity perpetuated by this administration, knowing the grave danger such acts will lead this country to. Let it not be assumed that we are the only one to suffer for this desperation and frustration by some of these misguided elements in this administration as they will go after other Nigerians, if they are not called to order on time.

    “Though before the arrival of CSP Ama, the governors had gone very far in their deliberations as the meeting has considered the Mobilisation/Contact Committee’s recommendations on how to receive the five new Governors joining the group and directed the NWC of the party to set in motion a machinery to receive the new entrants. The NWC was also directed to critically examine the available options and recommend to the Caucus the platform to be used for the 2015 general elections.

    “ The Caucus is to deliberate on this during its next meeting to be held immediately after the proposed peace talks with President Goodluck Jonathan. The options to be considered include either to remain in PDP or adopt any of the three other options, namely, accept the proposal of APC or join PDM, VOA or form a new political party.

    “The Caucus also noted the majority request that seeing that we have majority of our members in the National Assembly and majority of the governors, the idea of continuous waiting for the meeting with Mr. President before deciding our future is no longer ideal, in view of the lukewarm attitude of Mr. President and his lieutenants in restoring peace to the party and refusal to attend to most of our demands. The Caucus decided that we should give the President some weeks grace before finally deciding on our next line of action.

    “The Caucus also expressed total displeasure at the lack of reasonable effort to sort out the lingering ASUU/FG face-off, which has kept our children at home for over four months. It counselled the Federal Government to urgently arrest this ugly incident by declaring a state of emergency in the education sector to enable the government meet up with the demands of ASUU.”

  • New PDP jolts Jonathan’s home state

    New PDP jolts Jonathan’s home state

    Mike Odiegwu in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, reports on the travails of the new Peoples Democratic Party in the home state of President Goodluck Jonathan

    Let the old PDP impunity and injustice pass away and a new dawn break over Nigeria with the new authentic PDP. Nigeria has never been more divided.The Niger Delta has never been more divided. Bayelsa state has never been more divided.The new authentic PDP is our only hope. Let’s keep promises!.That’s what Ijaws are known for.”

    With the above daring statement, the Kawu Baraje-led Peoples Demcratic Party, popularly called the new-PDP, got disciples in Bayelsa, the home state of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    As would be expected, this statement caused consternation among key government officials in the state. It reverberated across the state and jolted the Restoration Team of Governor Seriake Dickson.

    Though most politicians sympathetic to Dickson and Jonathan publicly described the development as surprising, those who know said it was only strange to the eyes of the uninitiated in the delicate politics of the state.

    They recalled the events that led to the deposition of the former governor of the state, Mr. Timipre Sylva; the denial by the PDP to seek reelection and sidelining of persons formally loyal to Sylva in the party’s administration.

    Therefore, such analysts observed that all has never been well with the PDP in the state, especially as the new chairman of the party, Col. Sam Inokoba (retd), could not exert his authority to reconcile discordant tunes in the party.

    They concluded that it was illusory and a fairy tale for anybody to conclude that PDP was before now a united family in the state. The aggrieved members were simply waiting for an opportunity to air their view, a platform that was provided for them by the ‘nPDP.’

    Little wonder the promoters of the nPDP in the state are largely loyalists of the former governor. In fact, the interim chairman of the breakaway group, Chief Richard Kpodor, was the former Security Adviser to Sylva. Former chairmen of PDP in the three senatorial districts and eight local government areas in the state who fell out with PDP were said to be principal members of the faction.

    The membership gathered steam with fears that some notable politicians who had been cheated several times from the corridors of power by Jonathan could be sympathetic to the group. There were also insinuations that some members of Dickson’s cabinet, disgruntled senior civil servants and abandoned party loyalists were capable of rocking the boat by secretly supporting and funding the group.

    The 2015 conundrum

    What will be the fate of President Jonathan’s reelection if his home state is divided in 2015? To resolve the puzzle, we gathered that Dickson and his think tanks had analysed the development and had pronounced their verdict.

    According to insiders, the conclusion was that it would be politically suicidal to allow any group against the reelection of Jonathan to exist in the state. Jonathan, they said, could not afford to fight at home and abroad.

    Besides, Dickson should not be seen as superintending over a state that is divided against Jonathan. Such development could heighten speculations that he had fallen out with his godfather.

    Moreover, as a Chairman of the PDP Reconciliation Committee, the question has been, how could he be a peacemaker when his state is on fire? Given these realities, Dickson, we learnt, decided to cripple Kpodo and his group.

    Battle royale

    Despite claims by Dickson that his government was not disturbed by the antics of the nPDP in the only Ijaw homogeneous state, his body language proved otherwise. The governor soon unleashed the police and the state security outfit codenamed Operation Door Akpo on Kpodo and his members.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Hilary Opara, immediately stepped in to stop the group. Opara, in a statement, vowed to clamp down on the activities and spread of any group not legally registered to preserve the existing peace in the state. He asked members of the state to avoid such association like a plague.

    Opara said: “The Police in Bayelsa State have alerted the public of attempts by some people in the state to form an illegal political organisation under the name of ‘New PDP’ and advised law abiding Bayelsans to dissociate themselves from the group.

    “No such group or any other organisation not legally registered would be allowed to disrupt the existing peace and tranquility in the state,” he said.

    To further support their efforts, some politicians loyal to Dickson and Jonathan threw their weight behind the part of the umbrella held by Bamanga Tukur.

    Coming under the coalition of former legislators and government officials and led by the former Assistant National Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Blesson Akpoloma, the group disassociated themselves from Kpodo.

    Indications also emerged that tough times awaited Kpodo. The government through the police appeared to have declared him a persona non grata. “Catch Kpodo and new PDP dies in Bayelsa” became the objective of the police.

    As part of the plan to stop the group, the police raised a panel to investigate  Kpodo. Opara in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Alex Akhigbe, said the police were inundated by complaints from members of the public against Kpodo.

    He said most of the complaints bordered on criminality, adding that an Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was appointed to head the panel.

    We gathered that the police investigation committee was raised shortly after the state government put Kpodo under security watch. Kpodoh was accused of making inciting statements capable of plunging the state into chaos.

    Dickson in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Danield Iworiso-Markson, said: “Mr. Kpodoh had in the last couple of days vigorously pursued his inordinate plans by dishing out deliberate falsehood about the Federal and State Governments.”

    So, the crackdown continued as tension heightened. The police in a manner reminiscent of a war situation  intensified their search for Kpodo. Over six patrol vans of armed police operatives were said to have been deployed in Trofani, Kpodo’s community in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.

    The operatives were said to have stormed the area at about 6am and surrounded the home of Kpodo. It was learnt that they searched the home and arrested three persons including two members of Kpodo’s family.

    Kpodo’s defence

    Following the manhunt for him and significant members of the nPDP by the police and the state’s security outfit, Kpodo has been in hiding. From his conclave he throws tantrums to the camp of Dickson and Jonathan. He decried the onslaught against him and members of the nPDP. He even claimed he would summon courage and lead members of his group to open a secretariat for the new PDP in Yenagoa.

    “The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the freedom of association. The new PDP will go ahead with its decision to open an office in Yenagoa”, Kpodo taunted his hunters.

    He said: “We are people who are genuinely interested in what happens to the party. I worked for Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha as Director of Operations, Centre for Youth Development.

    “I was Senior Special Assistant, Strategy and Policy Monitoring to President Goodluck Jonathan during his tenure as governor. Sylva, during his administration, appointed me SSA on Security.

    “So what do they mean when they call us Sylva’s loyalists. We are committed PDP members who care so much about what happens to the party both at the national and state level,” he said.

    Shortly after his home was invaded, Kpodo further alleged that the police were being used by the state government to deny him his rights as an indigene of the state.

    Also the former South-South Youth Leader of PDP, Mr. Godwin Sidi, who is also a staunch member of the nPDP alleged that the police had invaded their homes and business premises.

    He said: “The lives of our wives and children are in danger following the invasion of our homes by the police. The situation is strictly political,” he said.

    Despite all the efforts of the government, the nPDP within the period formed an opposition against Dickson. They criticised his business deals with Poland, faulted his treatment of civil servants, decried his foreign trips and lamented the state’s stifled economy.

    But Dickson fired back and asked the people in the state to remember that persons like Kpodo and other members of the nPDP were the reasons why Bayelsa remained under the throes of underdevelopment before his emergence as the governor.

    Observers have seen that since the police intensified search for Kpodo, there has been a lull in the altercation. But they said it could just be a tactic as the nPDP may simply be buying time.

  • Uproar in House over Baraje’s faction’s proposed visit

    Uproar in House over Baraje’s faction’s proposed visit

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday returned from a long recess to a rowdy session when a letter by Alhaji Kawu Baraje’s faction of the Peoples Democratic Party requesting to visit the House was read by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.

    The Speaker, however, revealed that a letter requesting a meeting with the leadership of the House and PDP Caucus written by the chairman of the PDP was withdrawn early Tuesday morning.

    If Bamanga Tukur had not withdrawn the letter, both factions would have been meeting with the lawmakers about the same time.

    The new PDP’s letter which was signed by Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola brought proceedings to an abrupt halt and set members off in a riotous shouting match that halted proceedings for almost 30 minutes.

    The Speaker in his opening speech lamented the level of budget implementation, saying it “remains a sore point of governance,” and that implementation of the 2013 capital appropriation “is way below expectation.”

    According to him, all committees of the House will proceed on one week of oversight to Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA).

    The members also passed a vote of confidence on the Speaker and all members of the leadership in the House to demonstrate that there is unity in the House.