The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PDP

  • Atiku is our grandson, says Jigawa monarch

    AN official of the Dutse Emirate Council in Jigawa State yesterday claimed the mother of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was from the state.

    The royal father, who did not want to be named, said Atiku’s mother was the daughter of late Abdullahi from Jigawar Sarki in Jigawa State.

    He told reporters in Dutse, the state capital, that he craved anonymity because the issue of Atiku’s origin had been politicised.

    The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)  had alleged that Atiku is not a citizen of Nigeria and, therefore, not qualified to contest the presidential election.

    Countering a petition filed by Atiku to challenge the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in the February 23 election, the ruling party argued that the former vice president was born on November 25, 1946, in Jada, Adamawa State, which was then in Northern Cameroon.

    Read also: I’m a Nigerian by birth, Atiku replies APC

    But the monarch dismissed the point raised by the APC.

    ”As a royal father in Jigawa, I don’t want my name to be mentioned because they have politicised the whole issue.

    “However, I can confirm that the late Mrs. Kande was from Dutse and her uncle, Adamu Ma’aruf, was the Chief Imam of Dutse Central Mosque until he died five years after the creation of the state in 1991,” he said.

    Isyaku Adamu, a centenarian, also corroborated what the royal father said.

    He said Atiku’s mother, who was known as “Kande Yar-Malam”, married Garba, Atiku’s father, who came from Sokoto.

    “He settled at our house, popularly called ‘Gidan Malamai’ (Scholars’ House). There, he met and married Kande and took her to present day Adamawa State, where Abubakar was born,” he told reporters.

    “Abubakar’s mother, Kande, was junior to Alhaji Ali and Azumi; they are all late now. Kande was our daughter and Abubakar is our grandson. We are all Fulani by tribe; our forefathers are scholars here in Dutse, that’s why our home is called Gidan Malamai.”

    Atiku has insisted that he was born by Nigerian parents and he is, therefore, a citizen of Nigeria by birth.

  • Osun APC berates PDP for circulating false stories

    THE Osun State All Progressives Congress has berated the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for circulating “false, scandalous and defamatory stories against the Court of Appeal”.

    In a statement by its spokesperson, Kunle Oyatomi, the APC said the “PDP leadership has to cultivate some responsible decorum in its political engagement, which appears to be deteriorating by the day, particularly in Osun State”.

    The APC was reacting to a statement credited to the PDP in a section of the media that Justice Joseph Oyewole was a member of the Court of Appeal hearing a petition against the declaration of the APC and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, as the winner of the September 22 and 27, 2018 Osun governorship polls.

    The party said its investigation revealed that Justice Oyewole was never listed as a member of the panel of judges set up to hear the APC appeal against the electoral tribunal’s judgment.”

    Read also: Oyetola, APC, INEC urge Appeal Court to uphold Osun election

    The APC decried what it described as “the PDP’s penchant for lies, disinformation and incitement to violence that has allegedly become the party’s trademark in Osun State.”

    According to the party: “It is totally irresponsible for the PDP and its minions to so unjustly and viciously defame, as well as cast scurrilous aspersion on a judge of the Court of Appeal for no just reason whatsoever.

    “The PDP’s comfort zone in Osun is to hide behind a mountain of lies and subterfuge to scandalise people of integrity and create an atmosphere of confusion in order to incite violence.

    “We have had enough of this failed strategy by the PDP in Osun State. It is time the PDP was held accountable for its disruptive approach to politics that threatens social order and peace.”

  • Edo 2020: PDP, APC in battle royal

    The governorship election will hold in Edo State next year. There is a realignment of forces in the two major parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Aspirants are warming up for the race, Correspondent OSAGIE OTABOR reports.

    A COLD war is on within the ranks of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the governorship tickets for next year’s election. The first term tenure of Governor Godwin Obaseki will expire in November next year and various aspirants are  warming up to contest against him.

    Candidates that contested on the platform of the APC and the PDP in 2016 are Governor Obaseki and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. They are now battling the intrigues within their  parties ahead of next year’s polls.

    APC

    Within the APC, it is a battle between ‘the Establishment boys and Abuja politicians’. The clock is ticking for the Edo State chapter of the APC. There are fears of an implosion in the Edo APC over the governorship ticket. In a few months’ time, those against a second term ticket for Obaseki will come out in full blast. The governor has not declared his intention to run for a second term, but his supporters are already propelling him to seek re-election.

    There are also indications that he might be denied the ticket, because there is a huge divide between the leaders of Edo APC on whether or Obaseki should be given the nod for a fresh mandate. The battle is between those regarded as ‘Establishment boys and Abuja politicians’. Establishment boys are those  appointed by Obaseki or perceived to be benefiting from the administration. Abuja politicians are those not happy with Obaseki’s style of governance and claim that they were neglected after working to install the government. They are also known as boys of former Governor Adams Oshiomhole who is also National Chairman of the APC. Some political appointees have indicated that their offices have become redundant because they are regarded as Oshiomhole boys.

    Those interested in contesting against Obaseki for the APC ticket are General Charles Airhiavbere, Dr. Pius Odubu and Chris Ogiemwonyi. Those allegedly penciled down to replace Philip Shaibu as the Deputy Governor are Philip Ugheoke, Johnson Oghuma and Abbas Braimah.

    There is no rift yet between Oshiomhole and Obaseki, but to the party leaders on both divides, the cold war is real. Oshiomhole has kept his plans to his chest, even though some APC leaders are waiting for directives from the National Chairman before declaring their support for any aspirant. The outcome of the presidential and National Assembly elections in Edo State shocked Obaseki when he got reports of how some APC leaders sabotaged the election because they were allegedly neglected.

    The sins of the governor, in the view of some APC leaders, are many. Top on the list is that Obaseki is stingy. They see his governance style as an attempt to create an eldorado when hunger is biting them. Some claim that he wants to retire them and raise new leaders from their domains. There are complaints of no appointments into various boards of ministries and parastatals. Contracts and juicy appointments are given to those who did not work for the party and non-party members from Lagos State, according to them. They also accuse Obaseki of having no regards for Oshiomhole and other party chieftains.

    An APC chieftain who confided in our reporter said there was no rift between Obaseki and Oshiomhole. He said those attempting to build a wall between Obaseki and Oshiomhole thought they would benefit more when the two leaders are fighting.

    Another chieftain said Obaseki was more focused on working for the people rather than his second term ticket. The source said the coast would be clear from November after Obaseki’s second year anniversary.

    Meanwhile, support for Obaseki is swelling by the day. A political group, the Edo Elites, comprising notable leaders of the APC, academics and professionals, began the campaign to ward off any aspirant from reaching out to them, by printing exercise books and other items to be distributed across the state. The inscription on one of the books reads: “GGO Year 2020. 4+4 loading and Continue to give us more of the developments in Edo State.”

    Last month, leaders of the APC in Oredo Local Government Area dumped their son Airhiavbere to adopt Obaseki as the sole candidate of the party for next year’s governorship election. A communique issued at the end of the Oredo APC meeting by the Chairman, Godwin Alabi, reads: “Considering the pace of development in different sectors of Edo State, from infrastructure to education, industrialisation, civil service and judicial reform, prompt payment of pensioners and civil servants emoluments, among others, we are convinced beyond doubt that the only way to sustain the current rapid growth is to ensure that Governor Obaseki continue as governor.

    “We, therefore, with full sense of responsibility call on him to run for 2nd term and thereby adopt Governor Obaseki as the sole candidate in the forthcoming 2020 election. We will ensure as, leaders of the party in Oredo, our readiness to pull our resources together to ensure that Governor Obaseki not only fly the flag of the party in governorship election, but as governor for second term.”

    Last week, the State Executive Committee (SEC) of the party rose from its meeting to pass a vote of confidence on Governor Obaseki, because of unprecedented achievements of winning all the 24 seats in the State House of Assembly during the last general election.

    Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Azebamwan, who signed the communique after the SEC meeting, said the party would continue to sustain its commitment to give Obaseki the needed support to keep it focused and on track.

    A huge billboard close General Airhiavbere’s GRA residence suggests that he is interested in the 2020 governorship. The billboard reads: “Hope is still alive”. He has been suspended from the APC for alleged anti-party activities, but he has insisted on contesting the governorship primary against Obaseki.

    PDP

    The victory of the APC in the last presidential election has compelled the PDP to return to the drawing board on who will be its candidate for next year’s election. Some leaders said Pastor Ize-Iyamu is no longer keen on contesting for the governorship, because of the outcome of the presidential election.

    Before the last general elections, Ize-Iyamu had always emphasised the need to focus on winning the presidential election, which he believed would enhance the party’s chances of clinching the Edo governorship. At various occasions, Ize-Iyamu had been introduced as the Edo Governor in-waiting. In 2018, when the party undertook a thank you tour of the 18 local government areas, its chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, had insisted that Pastor Ize-Iyamu remained the party’s candidate until the court ruled on a suit challenging Obaseki’s qualification.

    Orbih, who said he could not abandon Ize-Iyamu in the middle of the river, stated that until Ize-Iyamu gets into that position (governor) he would not be tired of supporting him.

    He added: “Even if I am no longer chairman of the PDP, I will still support him. It is proper for me to do what I am doing now. This is because we still have a pre-election matter in court, challenging the qualification of Governor Obaseki. Until the case is decided, he remains a candidate of the PDP. Until that case is decided, we will accord him all privileges.”

    Some PDP members are, however, rooting for Senator Matthew Urhoghide or Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, the member representing Oredo in the House of Representatives, to be given the party’s ticket. They allege that there is no love lost between Orbih and Ize-Iyamu.

    The PDP is believed to be waiting for the APC to commit a political blunder as it did in the National Assembly elections for it to return to power in the state. Members of the Edo APC are watching to see where the pendulum will swing, as regards the imaginary fight between Oshiomhole and Obaseki.

  • Easter: PDP urges prayers for national rebirth

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Nigerians to use the occasion of this year’s Easter celebrations to pray for national rebirth and the fulfillment of their aspirations for a safe and prosperous nation where love, truth and justice will prevail.

    The Easter festival, which marks the celebration of the resurrection of the Jesus Christ from the dead, offers great lessons on the inevitable victory of life over death; truth over falsehood; light over darkness and freedom over captivity.

    In a statement yesterday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party urged Nigerians to use the occasion to rekindle their bonds of love, unity and oneness of purpose.

    It also urged the people to stand firm against oppressive forces that are using intimidation, lies, institutional manipulations, propaganda and deprivation in their desperation to divide, subjugate and ultimately subvert the collective will of the people.

    “The message of Easter amply demonstrates to us that no matter how long evil, falsehood or darkness appears to thrive in the life of a people; good, truth and the light will always prevail at the end of the day.

    “Nigerians must therefore remain optimistic in their undying expectation and hope that the presidential mandate, which they freely gave to Atiku Abubakar, will be retrieved at the tribunal as a pathway to national rebirth and the return of our nation to the path of unity, national cohesion and economic prosperity”, the statement added.

    The PDP also called on Nigerians to, in their usual brotherliness, use the occasion to show love to one another, particularly to victims of insurgency and bloodletting that have been ravaging our nation in the “last four years”.

    The party prayed for the nation and wished Nigerians happy Easter celebrations.

  • PDP alleges fresh plot to smear Adeleke

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged fresh plots by some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to smear the reputation of its candidate in the Osun State governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

    Adeleke has been having a running legal battle with the APC over alleged falsification of his Secondary School Leaving Certificate.

    In a statement yesterday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party accused some unnamed APC leaders of knitting ludicrous allegation that Adeleke’s Secondary School Testimonial was forged.

    According to Ologbondiyan, the PDP already has information on how the APC used a former commissioner in the state to reach out to certain top security officers to use the fabrications to arrest and embarrass Adeleke and the Principal of his school, Ede Muslim High School, Ede, Mr. Kadili Adejare Abass.

    The PDP said it has also been fully informed of how huge sums of money has allegedly been forwarded as bribe to the compromised security agents to arraign and humiliate Adeleke and Mr. Adejare Abass on fabricated charges, even when they know they cannot prove any case.

    The party further claimed to be in possession of intelligence of attempts by agents of the APC to hack into Adeleke’s former school files, with the view to mutilating relevant academic documents, just to get at the lawmaker, not minding the harm such would cause other students of the school,” the party said.

    The PDP counselled the APC to accept its defeat in the Osun Governorship Election and desist from acts of mischief against Senator Adeleke, saying that such attempts will come to naught.

    The party also charged Nigerians, particularly the people of Osun, to continue to be at the alert in resisting what it described as the “noxious schemes” of the APC against their will as a people.

  • Easter: PDP urges prayers for national rebirth

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Nigerians to use the occasion of this year’s Easter celebrations to pray for national rebirth and the fulfillment of their aspirations for a safe and prosperous nation where love, truth and justice will prevail.

    Easter, which marks the celebration of the resurrection of the Jesus Christ from the dead, offers great lessons on the inevitable victory of life over death; truth over falsehood; light over darkness and freedom over captivity.

    In a statement Saturday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party urged Nigerians to use the occasion to rekindle their bonds of love, unity and oneness of purpose.

    It also urged the people to stand firm against oppressive forces that are using intimidation, lies, institutional manipulations, propaganda and deprivation in their desperation to divide, subjugate and ultimately subvert the collective will of the people.

    “The message of Easter amply demonstrates to us that no matter how long evil, falsehood or darkness appears to thrive in the life of a people; good, truth and the light will always prevail at the end of the day.

    “Nigerians must therefore remain optimistic in their undying expectation and hope that the presidential mandate, which they freely gave to Atiku Abubakar, will be retrieved at the tribunal as a pathway to national rebirth and the return of our nation to the path of unity, national cohesion and economic prosperity,” the statement added.

    The PDP also called on Nigerians to, in their usual brotherliness, use the occasion to show love to one another, particularly to victims of insurgency and bloodletting that have been ravaging our nation in the “last four years”.

    The party prayed for the nation and wished Nigerians happy Easter celebrations.

  • Re: APC’s growing ideological clarity

    “It is truly very difficult to differentiate between the APC and PDP due basically because of the same set of people constituting the members and political leaders of both parties- at one time or the other. There is indeed still not much difference between the two parties in the true sense of it except for some important infrastructural constructions and a few investments on poverty alleviation by APC this time, which were made possible because of Buhari’s sincere desires to make a difference. And of course the people expect a lot more from him. In one of the presidential elections he lost before his 2015 victory, Nigerians could see Buhari openly weeping for the country, which was an indication of how much he loved the nation and could have made the needed difference was he allowed the opportunity. Of course, it is quite unfortunate that the opportunity he sought came when he was no longer young and at a time when the 16 years of PDP predatory rule had left the nation’s economy severely in ruins, making his genuine efforts at moving the country forward look like nothing is happening.

    “Yet concerned Nigerians and those interested in the advancement of the country are all too happy that he was after all voted in for the second tenure in the hope that with him on the saddle there is still left so much to hope for with good administration, caution and self censorship. Now there is this much talked about invisible government of the nation that must always influence the direction any government of the day must follow. Buhari should know that if anything goes wrong in the country under his watch, it is his name that will be entered on the wrong side of the nation’s history not the names of those who would counsel him to go against the will of the people and the nation. With the not too young to rule law now in place, Buhari may turn to be the last old face to mount the saddle. Mere making a difference between his APC and PDP may not just be enough this time. It is what he actually does or fails to do on the whole that will really determine his place in history.

    “While Nigerians are certainly not interested in restructuring the country in a way that the separatist agitators will cash in to split the nation, there are some essential tinkering that just need be done to devolve some powers to the federating units – the states of the country – for the better. With the elections now over and his second tenure deservedly secured, Buhari as part of the measures to take the nation to the next level, can now call for the recommendations of the 2014 confab and constitute a committee to study its content towards urgent implementation of what should be generally acceptable. If no other thing, he should be able to reconstruct the nation in such a way that it will be practically impossible for one man or a few of them to be the ones determining the leadership and political direction of the country against what should be the collective will of the people. And having promised going tougher in his war against corruption this second tenure, he should launch out fully to drive home the assertion that if Nigeria doesn’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. During his just concluded 67th birthday colloquium, the national leader of APC, Asiwaju Tinubu outlined what he believes should be the ideological framework of the party. I think Buhari can simply kick start from here, at least to lay a progressive foundation those coming after him could build on should there be no time enough for him to take us to the promised land”, Emmanuel Egwu, Unwana, Afikpo North LGA, Ebonyi State.

     

    “Great analysis as usual, sir. My fear, however, is that the much touted APC ideological evolvement must first and foremost reflect solid institutional features before it could be celebrated. Sir, from your analysis, it seems as what’s being seen as ideology is more a reflection of the ideological leanings of top current power actors in the party than what the party actually stands for. By the time President Muhammadu Buhari, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Oshiomhole and the likes cease to be part of the party’s top power players, then the true ideological leaning of the party could thoroughly be assessed”, Tayo Ogunbiyi, Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy.

     

    ILLUMINATIONS: “Very pertinent point Mr. Ogunbiyi. I think the seeds of progressive politics in Nigeria were sown through the efforts of the progressive tendencies that led the nationalist struggle for independence particularly the Zikists and the radical trade union movement led by the likes of Michael Imoudu. The seeds of progressivism were further nurtured in diverse spheres by Obafemi Awolowo and Aminu Kano’s AG/UPN, NEPU/PRP in the first and second republic respectively. The glowing but brief flowering of the Murtala/Obasanjo military regime’s radical and patriotic African –centred foreign policy can also not be discounted in the evolution of progressive ideology in Nigeria. In this dispensation, the flame of progressive ideology has been kept aglow no matter how tremulous by the succession of the defunct AD/AC/ACD/ ACN and now being consolidated by the APC. A recognizable, distinct and increasingly coherent body of ideas, value dispositions, philosophical orientations and policy prescriptions that constitute Nigeria’s variant of progressive ideology is slowly crystallizing and this, in my view, transcends the arbitrary whims or fleeting fancies of current APC leaders. If APC does not summon the discipline and vision to give this emerging systematically related body of ideas enduring institutional expression, other more purposeful and focused parties will emerge to do so. Nature abhors a vacuum. Thanks for your always thoughtful interventions.

     

    Re: Ideology and pdp’s electoral resurgence

    “Much as the nation needs a viable opposition party to keep the ruling party on its feet and make it always accountable to the people, there is nothing in practical terms in what you christened the ideology of Atiku to merit the eulogies you seem to be heaping on him and the PDP in this piece, objective though the write up is. Those we even know how much they had looted our economy, and who in developed climes should have been languishing in prison shouldn’t be given such image laundering as you would Atiku as projected in that article. Whatever is said to be Atiku’s ideological clarity or invented PDP value orientation was never responsible for the impressive PDP performance in the last general election. The vast majority of Nigerian electorate hasn’t developed to the level of making their electoral choice based on aspirants’ or party ideological rhetoric such as free-market policy prescriptions at least for now.

    “By the impressive outing of the PDP during the last election, the party was merely trying to reap bountifully from where it had actually sowed ruins and emptiness. The disaster PDP foisted on our economy and inherited by Buhari was such that things needed to get worse first before getting better with PMB’s adopted method of turning things around for the better. It was that getting ‘worse’ situation process which was actually very hard on Nigerians, that people had really reacted to in that election by voting for Atiku to the extent they did, unaware that things would be worse were the same PDP still in p0wer to date. That’s the reason for the impressive performance of the PDP in the election and not the clarity of any kind of paper ideological pontification, that many Nigerian voters may neither read nor understand the content”, Emmanuel Egwu, Ebonyi State.

     

    ILLUMINATIONS: “Thanks Mr. Egwu. Did I even remotely insinuate that the emerging ideological coloration of the APC and PDP was responsible for voter behavior in the last election? Not even a neophyte in political analysis would resort to such crude mono-causal determinism in discourse. Ideology cannot be a key factor in electoral outcomes when the dominant parties are only just gradually crystallizing around distinct ideological positions and widespread poverty and poor political consciousness reinforce primordial proclivities. My point is that there is a gradual ideological awakening and this is a good thing. If I found things to commend in Atiku’s politics or policy package, I am absolutely unapologetic apout it. Those who believe that PDP is populated wholly of devils and APC of saints are free to continue to luxuriate in their illusory world. Anybody who is blind to the dizzying cross migration of an assortment of morally tainted characters across the two dominant parties can remain blissfully impervious to reality. If the APC does not feel the need to critically interrogate the reasons for the electoral resurgence of a badly morally damaged PDP in the 2019 polls, particularly the unforced errors of the Buhari administration, there is pretty little this column can do about that”.

  • Atiku and the tale of the INEC server

    I have always wondered how Abubakar Atiku came to believe that he won an election that was monitored from polling booth to polling booth in Nigeria, by foreign observers, newspaper reporters, online news media , bloggers and all manner of busybodies in Nigeria and he lost by 3.9 million votes!

    I think I now have a few ideas as to why he thinks he could fool us with that funny story or why maybe he himself may believe the story. Some people took money from him and told him that they could hack the INEC server and put in figures for him. Simple.

    Atiku’s main argument in his election petition is that INEC’s server showed that he won the election by 1.6 million votes. He also gave the details of the purported results from the server. He claims that card readers were used to send the results electronically to the INEC server!

    Everyone saw just how ridiculous the figures were. Fortunately for truth, the lawyers are not good at maths. So his lawyers didn’t see from the figures that the total votes of President Buhari and Atiku added up exactly to the total number of accredited voters!

    Meaning that there were zero votes for all other candidates, zero cancelled or invalid votes in all of the polling booths all over Nigeria! This should ordinarily be enough to throw out the petition without more and show Atiku that he has been caught out in his scam or he has been scammed.

    But the PDP and Atiku are accustomed to 419 and propaganda. They now say that they will call Microsoft and Oracle (how about Google and Huawei?) to show that the INEC server actually made him the winner of the election!  How can this make any sense?

    Firstly, we were all at our polling units on Election Day. Card readers were used to verify our voters’ cards. Then we voted. Votes were counted manually (by hand in our presence) and entered into a form by the INEC officials. The forms were then signed by party agents. This is the authentic result.

    Most observers and online reports posted these results. I have not heard that anyone who was at his polling booth on Election Day saw any INEC official inputting  results on the card readers  and posting them electronically to a server!

    What Atiku and his PDP fellow travelers want to sell to us is that after the votes were counted and declared, they were then entered into the card readers and posted electronically on to the INEC server! Question is: who did the postings?

    Did the party agents see what was being posted by the INEC officials? If in fact the INEC officials secretly posted the results, how do we know if they were the same results properly counted at the polling booths?

     Or was the posting done after collation at the local government and State collation centres? If so, who saw this happen? Did the party agents see what was being posted? Everything done by INEC at the State and National Collation centres were transparent, in full view of cameras and live television. So when and why were these postings done secretly?

    READ ALSO: I got my figures from your server, Atiku tells INEC

    The truth of the matter is clear for all to see. There were no electronic posting of results from polling booths or collation centres.

    What happened could be either of the following: Atiku was tricked to believe that there was an INEC server that could be accessed or hacked to post results favorable to him. He must have paid a lot for it.

    The fake results were posted. As of Monday when Atiku was seeing the authentic results as they were brought forward by Returning Officers, Professors from different universities announcing, Atiku started to complain that the results he had were different from those being announced!

    Or perhaps, Atiku is trying to save face after a bruising defeat. He wants to cast as much doubt as possible by inventing a tale, a ridiculous tale that there is an INEC server that only he has access to and not surprisingly it contains information that he won the elections!

    The only question to ask him is how did you access the server? If you have exclusive access to it, then the integrity of the server is in doubt.   It means you could change figures as you wish!  All told this is just too silly. Dear Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, it is time to go home. Cameroun?

  • Gov Wike and the dance of the spirit

    I struggle to reject the version of Nigeria as an abnormal country.  But certain incidents in the country have continued to insistently and adamantly push this feeling.
    If Nigeria were a nation structured to function like a decent country, someone like Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the Governor of Rivers state should have been confined in a psychiatric or rehabilitation home.
    But I am not surprised Nigeria is an assemblage of complacent and easily contented people. So, we celebrate vicious leaders simply because they bow to our favoured affinities.  And no matter the aberrations’ they commit, we see them as flawless and faultless people.
    So, it is not enough that characters like Wike are straddling the land, by we are compelled to call them our leaders.  And so graciously and freely, they are polluting everywhere, with an odious aura of importance.  And for the wrong reasons, destiny compels us to worship them.
    Wike is very powerful and influential from a dubious perspective. Since I heard of Wike’s foray into partisan politics about two decades ago, his name has not been mentioned in pleasant circumstances’. His political sagacity recognizes only two things-the use of thugs and bribing his way to grab what he targets.
    He is so soulless and heartless that to sniff life out of anybody in order to realize his political ambition is very casual to him. I guess even the devil will learn some wisdom from Gov. Wike’s satanic antics.
    Wike remains the only Governor in the history of Nigeria to provoke protests in London. And it confounds that the protests were not for a populist cause embarked upon by Gov. Wike in his state or Nigeria. They were spurred by Wike’s felonious outing in Port Harcourt and Nigeria. So, London squawked in remonstrations.
    The James Moore group,  “UK Matters Most,” comprising hundreds of Britons marched to  #10 Downing Street, Buckingham Palace to converse with Queen Elizabeth II through an epistle  as well as the Westminster Parliament  in London to  prevail on these top government officials to initiate action on Gov. Wike’s alleged $1 million bribe to the High Commissioner and consulate officials in the  British High Commission in Nigeria.
    And why were the British officials brought into public odium? Wike allegedly sought to compromise them in order to have the consulate officials manipulate observer mission report on  the just concluded 2019 general elections in favour of him and his party, the PDP.
    Each time I contemplate it, I visualize Gov. Wike writing and delivering a clean copy of the fabricated, false and misleading   report, indicting the Nigerian military, INEC and every force opposed to him and his party to the consulate officials.
    And Moore and other Britons were incensed at Wike and the Consulate officials for willfully attempting to mislead the UK Government about the involvement of the military in elections in Nigeria. Britons were angered by Wike’s attempts to tarnish the integrity and reputation of Great Britain.
    Dexterously, Gov. Wike plans his devilry very meticulously. When his plot to use UK Consulate officials to unfairly indict the military, he attempted to bribe the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Jamil Sarham and other officers to compromise the electoral process.
    Had soldiers accepted the bribe, Wike would blackmail the Army with the water-tight evidence. But Gen. Sarham disappointed Gov. Wike by rejecting the monitory inducements.
    Apparently, sensing that he was losing the war on tainting the image of the Nigerian Army, the “wicked,” Wike as some politicians call him, told some visiting officials of the British High Commission who came visiting that Gen. Sarham is plotting his assassination. But he had no shred of proof. If leaders like Gov. Wike are the only leaders we have in this country, then I  am ashamed of my country.
    Portrait of Wike in politics is unattractive. All his actions stinks and are repulsive. But since we have misapplied the interpretation of democracy to crazy limits, human beings like Gov. Wike are still parading and flaunting themselves as leaders of people.
    What legacy is Wike leaving in politics or Rivers state? It is the legacy of political thuggery, violence and killings in the name of politicking. I still recount vividly that in the build-up to the general elections, APC, the main opposition party in Rivers state lamented in several press statements about the silent elimination of its members. Now if PDP and Wike are not responsible for such criminality, should we believe APC silently eliminated its chieftains to blame PDP and  the government of Wike?
    We must learn to face reality and tell ourselves the truth. Gov. Wike’s prolonged battles to discredit the Nigerian Army has a history. If we remember, in the course of routine surveillance, sometime last year, soldiers of  6 Division,  Nigerian Army  busted Gov. Wike’s   illegal militia training camp at Nonwa Gbam (NYSC Orientation Camp) in Tai Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers state.  That was Wike’s peculiar style of preparing for an election he was a participant.
    Deputy Director,  Army Public Relations , Col. Aminu Iliyasu said in a statement that “The troops met over 100 recruits undergoing military-type of training.” Just imagine that massive number of trained and armed thugs are unleashed on River state, peace would have gone on permanent exile.
    But Gov. Wike came out parroting and rejigging the narrative; he felt nothing denying it as militias. He proceeded   to caricature soldiers over their Boko Haram counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast. No one can convince me Gov. Wike is normal.
    Are you not surprised that Wike said the militia camp busted by soldiers in Tai was  the training camp in Rivers state meant for “Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency Training programme?” Whatever it means, only Gov. Wike knows. But safety corps should be given hard core military training in this volatile state and no security agency was involved. Yet, Wike thinks the rest of Rivers people are not wise enough to know? So, when you say this sort of person is my leader, it weighs me emotionally.
    Gov. Wike should know we are not foolish. A Governor cannot train and arm thugs, but turn around to shout everywhere of plots to assassinate him. These attack dogs Wike harbors will one day, find reason to revolt against him.  It is childish and laughable to mouth that the Army or the Federal Government is after his life.  Wike should learn some leadership decency.  The leadership scamps he displays will not help him in the long run.
    Egbo, a public affairs commentator wrote from Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt.

     

     

  • Jostle for Senate President assumes a new dimension

    The race for the Senate Presidency is getting exciting by the day. Yesterday two former Senate Presidents, ex-Speaker, ex-PDP governors backed the ambition of Senator Ahmed Lawan, who promised an independent legislature; Borno elders denied endorsing any candidate, and some All Progressives Congress (APC) youths urged the party to take all zones seriously. Yusuf Alli, Gbade Ogunwale and Onyedi Ojiabor report.

    Two ex-Senate Presidents,

    ex-Speaker, ex-PDP

    governors back Lawan

     

    The jostle for the Office of the Senate President assumed a new dimension yesterday following the backing of the Senate Leader, Dr Ahmad Lawan by two former Presidents of the Senate and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives.

    Some former governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have also joined the push for Lawan.

    But Lawan and members of his campaign team yesterday met with more Senators-elect to explain their agenda of a United National Assembly.

    According to an investigation by our correspondent, the two ex-Senate Presidents, ex-Speaker and former PDP governors (names withheld) were said to be backing Lawan based on principles and the “need for a more robust legislature.”

    A few of the ex-governors hinged their support on “personal relationship they have had with Lawan irrespective of the position of their party.”

    The affected former chairmen of the National Assembly have “rated Lawan as a lawmaker with enormous legislative experience.”

    It was learnt that some of the foot soldiers of the ex-Senate Presidents had been meeting with Senators-elect to woo them for Lawan.

    A top source, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, said: “The mandate given to Lawan and other APC lawmakers to reach out to top leaders and members of the opposition has started yielding results.

    “At least two former Senate Presidents, a former Speaker,  about three ex-PDP governors and some former ministers during the 16-year administration of PDP have joined forces with Lawan. They believe that Lawan’s choice will be better for the upper chamber.

    “These leaders have directed their supporters and loyalists to serve as lobbyists for Lawan because of the “need for a more robust legislature. They believe the Senate is derailing and losing its maturity.

    “At the appropriate time, all these leaders will publicly unveil their support for Lawan.”

    But Lawan yesterday had an audience with more Senators-elect from PDP in Abuja on how to have a united Senate and National Assembly.

    He pleaded with the Senators-elect to “rise above partisanship and give him a chance to lead the National Assembly.

    One of the PDP Senators-elect said: “Lawan actually assured us of fairness, equity and justice. We are happy that he is promising that there will be no discrimination.

    “So far, we are all weighing options because Sen. Ali Ndume has met with some of us too. Although our party is yet to come up with a position on the 9th Senate Presidency, this one-on-one initiative of Lawan has given us the opportunity to know who he is. When we get to the bridge, we will cross it.”

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