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Tag: PDP chieftains

  • PDP chieftains seek Northwest votes for Atiku

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign kicked off yesterday in Sokoto, with the opposition party promising to rescue Nigeria from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Chieftains of the opposition party, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus were at the rally.

    Addressing the crowd of supporters from the Northwest, they took turns to list what they described as the many failures of the APC and concluded that their party was on a rescue mission.

    Secondus said that President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC had failed the people “woefully” and that the APC-led administration cannot rig the election with security operatives.

    According to him, the PDP has chosen a credible and experienced candidate in former Vice President Atiku Abuabakar and his running mate, Peter Obi, to lead the rescue mission.

    Read also: Atiku’s Sokoto rally hitch-free – Police

    Secondus, who doubles as the chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, said the performance records of the duo of Atiku and Obi reassured that Nigerians will be in good hands after next year’s election.

    “Atiku has what it takes to turn the economy around, create jobs for our teeming youths and unite the country,” Secondus said, claiming that Nigerians had turned their back on the APC-led administration.

    The PDP chair cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies not to undermine the country by attempting to rig the elections.

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan said Atiku and Obi would show Nigeria the way forward and urged the people of the Northwest to join the PDP in showing the way forward.

    Jonathan said: “From 1999 till date, we have seen four presidents – from Obasanjo to Umaru Musa Yar ‘Adua, to myself and the current President (Buhari). You have seen how the various presidents and the various parties have worked, and one thing is very clear, PDP is still the number one party.

    “There is something that all of us see as human beings. Everybody, everyday must eat; and if you cannot eat well, then you are not happy. PDP is the only party that can make sure that all of us eat very well in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening.

    “Let us not make mistakes, those of us who are adults, old enough to vote, if we vote wrongly, our children and grandchildren will not forgive us.

    “Today, our country has a lot of challenges and we have looked at all the presidential candidates; all of them are good people. We have known them, credible people, but among all, we have seen that it’s only Atiku that can deliver.

    “If you have a football match, you go with your first eleven, you don’t manage. If you have a wrestling or boxing tournament, you go with your best. You don’t manage.

    “Atiku is experienced enough. He has demonstrated clearly in his personal life and his business life, that he has the capacity to bring this country to one, and make sure that our economy grows so that all of us will have something to eat.”

    Saraki, who is the Director-General of the Campaign, urged the people of the Northwest to lead the way in what he described as the mission to rescue Nigeria.

    Declaring the Northwest a PDP zone, Saraki bemoaned the deteriorating socio economic situation in the country, saying: “There is no security, there is no food, there is hunger.

    “Atiku is the man that can fight insecurity, hunger and unite Nigerians. It is about food and security. We will vote Atiku. He understands it; he knows how to create jobs. He knows how to unite Nigerians. We have tried Buhari and he has failed.”

    Dogara said Nigerians should be grateful for democracy that provides them the opportunity to make changes whenever things go wrong.

    He said he and some other Nigerians fought for change in 2015, but had since realised that the change was not forthcoming, hence his decision and others to dump the APC for PDP.

    Dogara said: “Democracy always offers us the opportunity to correct ourselves. We had speeches dealing with our convictions in 2015 when some of us left PDP to say we wanted to associate with change.

    “So, we have a wonderful opportunity today to revisit those issues of 2015. We will be deceiving you to say that this election is between Atiku Abubakar and President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “The election is not between them. The election is about you, women, young people and every Nigerian citizen who is suffering untold hardship today on account of lack of good leadership.

    “So, we want to review a lot of things. For instance, is your life better now than in 2015? Is security better now than it was in 2015? Are we more united as Nigerians than we were in 2015?

    “These are the things that are on the ballot paper. It is not a contest between Atiku and Buhari; rather it is between APC and all Nigerians.”

  • Abia PDP chieftains defect to APGA

    The leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has received about 3,500 defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State.

    Obingwa is Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s local government, which is noted for its high voting strength in the state. In the last general elections, it was said to have delivered over 82,000 of votes that gave Ikpeazu victory.

    The defectors should have been received by APGA leaders at a ceremony held last week at the National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), Umuokahia, Obingwa council area, but it was disrupted by thugs allegedly hired by the PDP. This, it was said, prompted the party chairman to issue a statement condemning the action.

    Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Maduka Akpulonu said the group decided to dump the PDP for APGA because “the party party has failed to provide purposeful governance to the people of the state in the past 20 years”.

    He accused chieftains of his former party of making efforts to stop them from defecting to APGA, stressing that nothing will make them to return to the PDP.

    His words: “We decided to dump our former party for APGA because PDP as a party has failed to provide purposeful governance to the people of the state. Some chieftains of our former party made efforts to stop us from defecting to APGA, but we resisted the move, saying nothing will make us return to PDP.”

    While welcoming governorship aspirant, Dr. Alex Otti, and other party leaders to the area, Akpulonu urged Otti to extend his campaign to all the 11 wards in the council. The chairman apologised for the botched rally.

    He said: “We apologise for the botched rally last week. Our defection has shaken the PDP to its foundation in Obingwa.  They frustrated our efforts to dump the PDP. The party (PDP) won’t do anything for the people and won’t allow them to leave to a better party.”

     

     

     

  • PDP chieftains defect to apc

    •Ex-tescom boss: Fayose has lost goodwill

    More prominent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the campaign train of the flag bearer, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, rolled into four local government areas of Ekiti State.

    Local government areas visited by Fayemi included Ise/Orun, Emure, Ikere and Ado, where the PDP lost hundreds of members to APC.

    In Ise, former Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, led other leaders to defect to the APC. Among the defectors are former Secretary to the State Government Dr Afolabi Ojuawo; immediate past Attorney-General and Commissioner of  Justice, Owoseni Ajayi, and a  member of the House of Assembly,  Ebenezer Alagbada.

    Defectors from Ikere are former local government chairman, Gboyega Akinola; a House of Assembly member, Sunday Akinniyi; former Assembly  member Omoyeni Peter; Banji Aluko, who is a former councillor; former local council chairman Adejumo  Tajudeen and Councillor Tunji Ogoji, human rights lawyer, Morakinyo Ogele, who hailed Akinola, Akinniyi and other kinsmen for heeding the call of the people by ditching Fayose and joining the progressives fold.

    Supporters trooped out to welcome Fayemi in Ikere, the hometown of the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola. The crowd caused a massive gridlock and prevented vehicular traffic before and during Fayemi’s presence in the town.

    In Emure, PDP lost former House of Representatives aspirant Ayo Peters; former senatorial chairman of PDP, Tale Ghadafi and former House of  Representatives aspirant Tony Yisa; while at Eporo, 140 PDP members  defected to APC.

    In Ado, PDP lost the immediate past Special Adviser on Culture and Tourism, Ademola Bello; former House of Assembly aspirant who won the primary, but was denied his mandate Odunayo Arinka;  former Special Adviser on Agriculture Bosun Osaloni;  Kusi Omodara; and immediate past Chairman of  Teaching Service Commission, Abiodun Falayi.

    Falayi said that, after 15 years of parting ways with the progressives, he had to leave PDP after finding out that Fayose liked to pay evil for good.

    He explained that he was led by a man of God to work with Fayose because he assured that he would behave well after becoming governor again in 2014, lamenting however, that he had to leave after discovering that  Fayose had gone worse in his relationship with the people.

    Falayi said his supporters who went with him to PDP are now with him in APC. He advised Fayose and PDP candidate, Olusola Eleka, not to waste time and money to campaign in Ado-Ekiti.

    He said: “Fayose has lost all the goodwill he enjoyed among the people here because of his greed, selfishness and his penchant to pay evil for good.

    “Fayemi is not new to us. He is honest and humble and he represents Ekiti symbol of integrity everywhere around the world who, as we can see, is now favoured to win the election because of his records of performance and transparent manner of running government affairs.”

    Adeyeye described Fayose as “a greedy and selfish politician with uncanny capacity to spin reckless lies”.

    He thanked Ise residents for their massive turnout at the rally and urged them to show the same enthusiasm on election day.

    Ajayi, said Fayose was the most  ungrateful human being that loved to pay evil for good.

    The APC candidate promised a return of human development policies of his first administration. He pledged to take care of civil servants and restore their rights and privileges while other citizens not on government payroll will be economically empowered.

    Fayemi said he was touched by the decrepit conditions under which Ekiti people lived in the administration of PDP, saying that APC’s administration as could be seen between 2010 and 2014 still presented  the best option that could address their problems in the most enduring  manner.

    He said he would continue his development policy encapsulated in his Eight-point Agenda, assuring that a vote for APC is a vote for freedom and opening of new opportunities for development.

    Fayemi said he would not sack teachers and local government workers, saying that he never contemplated sacking workers but was an apostle of jobs creation to keep a decent living.

  • PDP chieftains, Dickson’s aides defect to APC

    PDP chieftains, Dickson’s aides defect to APC

    •Sylva promises prosperity
    •Odigie-Oyegun urges revolution against hardship

    Members of the State Working Committee (SWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), aides of Governor Seriake Dickson and about 2,000 PDP supporters yesterday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State.

    The SWC members are the Assistant Secretary, Ben Oliver, the Assistant Organising Secretary, Miriam Kingsley and an ex-officio member, Diepreye Alagha.

    Two governor’s aides, Oberighakuma Yousou and Ayobegha James, resigned their appointments and shouted the change mantra of the APC during the campaign inauguration and presentation of flag in Sagbama town, Sagbama Local Government.

    Miriam attracted the crowd’s sympathy when she narrated her ordeal in the hands of her former party.

    She said: “I was in bondage, but now I’m crossing over to Canaan. I am happy that I have seen the light. I will no longer go back to Pharaoh.”

    The local government stood still and identified with APC and the aspiration of its governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva.

    Crowds of party faithful and residents trooped to the Sagbama Secondary School playground, brandishing brooms and singing victory songs for Sylva and APC.

    The presence of the party’s national leaders and members of the National Campaign Committee added colour to the event.

    Members of the National Working Committee (NWC) were led by the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and the National Vice-Chairman and ex-Ekiti State Governor Segun Oni.

    Others were a member of the National Campaign Committee and former Lagos State Military Administrator Buba Marwa and the APC National Organising Secretary, Osita Izunaso.

    The state Chairman of the party, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe and members of the SWC as well as chieftains, including ex-Acting Governor Chief Nestor Binabo and former two-time member of the House of Representatives Warman Ogoriba were at the event.

    Odigie-Oyegun, before handing over the flag to Sylva, joined other speakers to praise the people for leading a revolution to salvage their destiny on December 5.

    He said the last time Bayelsa experienced development was during Sylva’s tenure.

    Odigie-Oyegun said it was a pity that Dickson could not provide light, water and roads in his local government.

    He enjoined the people to vote for APC on December 5 and enjoy the dividends of democracy.

    While the APC national chairman was speaking, the crowd shouted that Sylva would provide water, light and other amenities.

    Sylva, who received the party’s flag amid jubilation, called for a minute’s silence for the late former Governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and the late APC chieftain and former PDP Chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd).

    He likened APC’s train to the Biblical Noah’s ark, saying those who failed to enter the ark would be submerged by the opuabadi (sea).

    Sylva said if elected, his administration would bring prosperity and end poverty.

    Said he: “A new day is approaching in Bayelsa. We are going to bring prosperity and empower people, especially youths. It is our responsibility to look after youths.”

    The APC standard-bearer said his government would offer good governance, promising that youths would play roles.

    He said his administration would embark on ‘quick-win jobs’ to empower the people and reduce unemployment.

    Sylva vowed to stop over-taxation of civil servants, saying it was inhuman.

    He dispelled speculations that if he wins, he will relocate the College of Education to his town where it was sited before Dickson took it to his council.

    “I will not do that. I will show him (the governor) that I’m not vindictive like him. I love my people and I know that they love me.

    “There are unfinished projects that we are going to finish. I will ensure 24-hour power supply in Yenagoa before the end of my tenure.”

  • Imo elders to Jonathan: call PDP chieftains to order

    Imo elders to Jonathan: call PDP chieftains to order

    Elders in Imo State have urged President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in the breach of security in the state by personnel of the Presidency and chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    According to the Imo State Council of Elders (IMSCE), personnel in the Presidency and PDP chieftains displayed disregard for constituted authority by their unrestrained use of siren and motorbike outriders.

    The elders urged President Jonathan to intervene, “as the general elections are approaching.”

    They enjoined him to prevail on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the 2011 results of five wards in Oguta Local Government.

    The group’s accusations were contained in a statement by its chairman and a former deputy director-general, State Security Service (SSS), Prince Okey Njemanze.

    Njemanze, who said although security agencies maintained peace, added that danger was looming, following alleged security breaches by PDP politicians.

    Besides the use of siren and outriders, the elders cited alleged attack on Governor Rochas Okorocha during the funeral of Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.

    They also cited another incident, alleging that suspected thugs loyal to the PDP candidate in the Oguta election attacked the governor’s convoy, pulled down the outrider and disarmed a policeman.

    “If this lawlessness persists, as electioneering nears, there may be bloodbath among the aides loyal to political gladiators in the state,” Njemanze said.

    The elders attributed INEC’s refusal to declare the result of the 2011 House of Assembly election in five of the 198 wards in Oguta, won by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), to the Presidency.

    According to the group’s chairman, INEC’s refusal to declare the results has left the area unrepresented in the Assembly for three years.

    The body faulted the Presidency for being silent on the status of a delegate to the National Conference, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, who despite being dethroned as the Chairman of the Imo Council of Traditional Rulers, paraded himself as a delegate to the National Conference.

  • PDP chieftains plot against new parties

    PDP chieftains plot against new parties

    LEADERS of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are discussing the emergence of two parties linked to ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and nine governors.

    The sponsors of the two parties have applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for registration.

    Atiku is being associated with the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM). Nine PDP governors are said to be floating the Peoples Progressive Movement (PPM).

    Some of the governors alleged to be behind the PPM include those seeking the removal of PDP National Chairman Bamanga Tukur.

    Atiku, however, said yesterday that he is still in the PDP.

    But the ex-Vice-President was quick to add that he does not have the right or power to stop others from associating with or seeking registration of new parties.

    According to sources, some aggrieved PDP members, governors and ex-governors are already working on a Plan B to checkmate President Goodluck Jonathan, who is alleged to have hijacked the party’s structure to secure a second term ticket.

    It was learnt that those behind the new parties are suspecting that the PDP National Working Committee is proposing an automatic ticket policy to ensure a second term ticket for Jonathan a done deal.

    But the PDP leadership has been consulting with some strategists of the President on how to checkmate those behind the two parties.

    A highly-placed source said: “The crisis in PDP has taken a new dimension and a split is likely, unless tact is employed to restore order.

    “Some PDP governors, ex-governors and members might leave en masse for these two new parties if the crisis within the ruling party is not addressed.”

    The PDP leadership and some presidential strategists met on Wednesday to discuss the parties.

    “The fears in PDP border on the fact that the two parties might later merge to battle the ruling party. The sponsors of the new parties are political heavyweights that can dismantle PDP,” the source added.

    PDP leaders are said to be jittery about the resurgence of PDM. Atiku is the rallying point of the association, which was founded by the late Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

    “There is a serious concern that Atiku, whose name was allegedly removed from the PDP register in Adamawa, might work with some leaders to spring a surprise against PDP through the PDM,” the source said.

    A PDP governor, who spoke in confidence, said: “You have not seen anything yet. As from January or the first quarter of 2014, Nigerians will know the position of most of the PDP governors on 2015 poll.

    “What is happening now is that every PDP governor is playing along with some forces in the Presidency until the appropriate time to define their position on the 2015 poll.”

    But a statement last night by the Atiku Media Office, signed by Mallam Garba Shehu, said although he remains in PDP, he cannot stop anyone from forming new parties.

    The statement said: “Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said while he remains a loyal PDP member, he doesn’t have the right or power to stop others from associating or seeking registration for new parties.

    “Following press enquiries on the reported registration of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) as a political party, the former Vice -President said he would always welcome the expansion of the political space to accommodate all shades of opinions or political hue.

    “While acknowledging that many of his political associates are involved in registering the PDM, Atiku Abubakar explained that he had no powers to stop adults with common interests from coming together to form a party.

    “He also noted that many of his political associates are equally members of political parties other than the PDP.

    “According to him, freedom of association as enshrined in the Constitution is the beauty of democracy and that he wouldn’t dissuade any of his followers from seeking a platform to promote their programmes.

    “Political analysts recalled the active role of the PDM in the country’s democratic transition from the Babangida, Abacha and Abdulsalami administrations.

    “The PDM platform, which was founded by late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, provided the impetus for his impressive performance across the country during the September 1992 presidential primaries, which were later cancelled by the military regime.

    “The late Gen. Yar’Adua came close to becoming President, thanks to the formidable PDM structure. In 1999, the PDM was also in the forefront in the emergence of former President Obasanjo as PDP presidential candidate.

    “Political observers also noted that the choice of Atiku Abubakar as running mate to Obasanjo in 1999 was a recognition of the active role of the PDM platform in his victory.”