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Tag: PDP

  • A destructive election

    After the mayhem, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the governorship election held on March 9. After the collation of results,  INEC’s returning officer, on April 3, said Wike polled 888, 264 votes to defeat  Biokpomabo Awara, the African Action Congress (AAC) candidate, who got 173, 859 votes.

    Wike is reported to have been close to tears after his re-election. He dedicated his victory to “God and those who were killed.” He was quoted as saying:  “Those who died not because they were criminals, but because they wanted to defend their votes…They protected our votes and they defended us. We pray God to grant their families the strength to bear the losses. We shall continue to support the families.”

    It is unclear how many people died as a result of the governorship election crisis in the state. It is unclear how many families were affected by the anarchy. But a March 10 statement by INEC, suspending “all electoral processes in the state until further notice,” indicated the degree of the chaos.

    INEC had said: “Based on reports from our officials in the field, the Independent National Electoral Commission has determined that there has been widespread disruption of elections conducted on March 9, 2019 in Rivers State. These initial reports suggest that violence occurred in a substantial number of polling units and collation centres, staff have been taken hostage and materials including result sheets have either been seized or destroyed by unauthorized persons. In addition, safety of our staff appears to be in jeopardy all over the state and the commission is concerned about the credibility of the process.”

    It is noteworthy that, ahead of the governorship election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State had entered the arena when it wasn’t a participant in the election. The APC had been legally barred from fielding a candidate in the state’s governorship election. The Supreme Court had upheld the order of a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, nullifying the APC primaries in Rivers State.  With this judgment, Rivers State APC candidates were disqualified from the National Assembly election as well as the governorship and state House of Assembly elections.

    The situation favoured the incumbent governor, Wike, who was seeking re-election.  With the APC out of the race, the PDP was expected to win easily. Only the APC was strong enough to seriously challenge the ruling party in the state.

    However, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, an APC leader in the state and a former governor of the state, had told the party’s supporters: “The leadership of the party met and agreed that we would work with a party called the African Action Congress, while we are still in court to reclaim our mandate. So… we will vote for the AAC. You must go home and vote for the AAC. There should be no excuse not to vote because there will be security for everybody. You must prepare and make sure you win the governorship election.”

    But APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole had contradicted Amaechi. Oshiomhole was quoted as saying: “I have never spoken at any forum that we have aligned with any party. There is only one party I oversee and that is APC; if there is going to be alignment, I will know. I can’t choose to be in the know. That has never been discussed with me or with any of the members of the national working committee.”

    This contradiction suggested that Amaechi was fighting solo. Considering that there is no love lost between Amaechi and Wike, it looked like Amaechi was interested in a grudge fight.

    Then the AAC deputy governorship candidate, Akpo Bomba Yeeh, dropped a bomb. He not only left the party “with effect from… 25th March 2019,” he also defected to the PDP.

    Yeeh said in his resignation letter: “My decisions were informed by the complete hijack of the structure and administration of our Party by a faction of the APC in Rivers State led by the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, for his personal political ambition. Furthermore, the Rotimi Amaechi led faction of the APC is not letting in its determination to subvert the will of Rivers people and cause crisis in the State using the platform of our promising Party. In the circumstance, I cannot in all conscience continue to lend support to the selfish political venture of the Minister of Transportation, which does not mean well for the progress and development of the people of Rivers State.”

    It is noteworthy that he added: “As a budding and promising politician, I also appeal to you to accept the reality of your crushing defeat and liberate yourself from being used by Rotimi Amaechi to cause unnecessary political crisis in our dear State.”

    It is interesting that at the time Yeeh left the AAC, INEC had suspended collation of results midway because of widespread violence and disruption of voting. But he probably knew enough about the party’s strengths and weaknesses, which is why he referred to a “crushing defeat.”

    When INEC finally announced the winner, the loser protested. The AAC governorship candidate, Biokpomabo Awara, claimed that INEC had turned the loser into the winner.  Awara said: “I have the unit by unit results of the March 9, 2019 elections in Rivers State. When they observed that I was leading and they saw the danger coming, they quickly moved on March 10 to save Wike, by suspending the collation of the results, which they resumed on April 1. As at the time the collation was suspended, I had 281,000 votes, as against Wike’s 79,000 votes. So, they (INEC officials) quickly came to his rescue.”

    The AAC’s loss deflated Amaechi, who had no business in the election since his party wasn’t a participant. His involvement was based on self- importance.  No doubt, his strange support for the AAC contributed to the sorrow, tears and blood that marked the governorship election in Rivers State.

  • I’ve nothing to do with alleged plot to void River poll, says Malami

    The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) has distanced himself from claim by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that he was working with Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi to void the result of the last governorship election in Rivers State.

    Malami’s spokesman, Salihu Isah, described the claim by the PDD as ridiculous and demanded that the AGF should not be linked with the local politics in Rivers State.

    Isah, while speaking with The Nation on Sunday, said: “I am not aware of any such ridiculous plan. There is nothing like that, to my knowledge.

    Read also: Amaechi, Malami plotting to void Rivers elections, PDP alleges

    “We are in a democracy, and there are institutions with powers to void elections if the need arises. That is not part of the responsibilities of the Attorney General of the Federation.

    “So, they should not link him (the AGF) with such ridiculous claim. They should leave the AGF out of the local politics in Rivers State.

     

     

    “There are better and more important issues to attract the attention of the minister,” Isah said.

  • Amaechi, Malami plotting to void Rivers elections, PDP alleges

    The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has fingered the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami in an alleged plot to void the March 9 Rivers State governorship election.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Governor Nyesom Wike of the PDP winner of the election, after weeks of suspending collation of the results of the governorship election.

    But at a media briefing in Abuja on Sunday, spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, raised the alarm, alerting of alleged plots by Amaechi and Malami to trigger constitutional crisis in the state.

    According to the PDP, the two Ministers have been allegedly mounting pressure on the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Mohammed to void the election.

    The main opposition party alleged the two Ministers are allegedly working on the CJN to reverse the February 12, 2019 final judgment of the Supreme Court upholding the exclusion of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Rivers election.

    The trial court had earlier ruled the Rivers APC out of participating in the 2019 National Assembly, governorship and state assembly elections following the nullification of the party’s flawed primaries in the three categories of election.

    By implication of the apex court’s ruling, the APC was barred from fielding candidates for the three categories of election in Rivers.

    Based on the ruling of the apex court, INEC had excluded the Rivers APC from the ballots in the 2019 federal legislative, governorship and state assembly polls.

    The PDP is worried by the prospects of Amaechi and Malami succeeding in having the entire elections in Rivers state voided by the Supreme Court and the possibility of the apex court reversing its earlier judgment and ordering the conduct of fresh elections in the state to accommodate the APC.

    It said:  “Nigerians can also recall how the APC, having been frustrated by its lawful exclusion, used compromised security agents to violently disrupt the smooth conduct of elections in Rivers State.

    “In the course of the elections, the APC however adopted the governorship candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), bankrolled his election and made compromised security agents and thugs available to him, with the view to using them to muscle votes.

    Read also: Court declines jurisdiction in Rivers SDP matter

    “In spite of these conspiracies by the APC, the will of the people of Rivers state prevailed, as they braved the odds, resisted all machinations and voted overwhelmingly for the PDP and all its candidates.

    “The spontaneous jubilation in Rivers State and across the country, in addition to the general outpouring of goodwill to Governor Wike and other candidates of the PDP on their victory, clearly demonstrates the PDP popularity and acceptance not only by the people of Rivers, but also by lovers of democracy all over world.

    “However, not done with the desperation to cause confusion and crisis in Rivers state, the leader of the APC in the state; Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has engaged in fresh conspiracies to subvert the will of the people as expressed at the polls.

    “The PDP has information of how Rotimi Amaechi has been going around in Rivers State, giving assurances that he has the ears of the Supreme Court under the leadership of Acting CJN, Justice Tanko Mohammed, and that the Supreme Court will reverse its final judgment on APC primaries and create the way for fresh elections in Rivers State, in which the APC will be allowed to participate.

    “Rotimi Amaechi goes about boasting that the apex court in the land, the Supreme Court, will reverse itself and order for fresh conduct of all the elections in Rivers State”.

    The PDP described the alleged scheming by the two cabinet Ministers as completely reprehensible and unthinkable in a democratic process.

  • Osun Guber: Appeal Court dismisses suit against Adeleke

    The Akure division of the Court of Appeal yesterday said the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September governorship election in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, was eligible to contest the election.

    The Appeal Court in its ruling dismissed an appeal against the judgment of an Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo which had earlier confirmed the eligibility of Adeleke to contest the governorship election.

    The Appeal court sitting in Akure,the Ondo state capital in its ruling dismissed the appeal on three grounds, affirming the judgment of the lower court that confirmed the eligibility of Adeleke. The first ground was that the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case.

    The second was that the petitioner; one Kingsley Awosiyan from Ife Central,  has no locus standi to file the case and third was that the matter was brought to court outside the stipulated 14 days after the conduct of the governorship primary election.

    Read also: We didn’t see Adeleke in exam hall, NECO supervisors tell court

    Reacting to the judgment, counsel to Adeleke, Nathaniel Oke said the latest judgment has knocked out the judgment of an Abuja High Court and rendered its conclusion ineffective, null and void with no effect on the candidacy of the PDP candidate for the September 2018 gubernatorial election.

    He said the Abuja High court judgment had contradicted the Osogbo High court verdict by rejecting testimonies of WAEC, an examination body which in a sworn affidavit confirmed that Ademola Adeleke sat for its examination with attached results.

  • APC’s growing ideological clarity

    Are there any fundamental differences in ideological orientation or philosophical outlook between Nigeria’s two hegemonic parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? Many Nigerians would say no. Both are essentially two sides of the same coin. Their leading members jump from one to the other with amazing ease. Many of them are more preoccupied with the acquisition of power more for material accumulation than any transcendental purpose. But is this perception of the two behemoths as organizational Siamese twins in terms of underlying motivating beliefs, values, assumptions and policy or articulations true? I don’t think so. What the just concluded elections have shown is the gradual crystallization of both parties along distinct ideological polarities.

    Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), in particular has, at various forums during the campaigns and after, incisively and painstakingly enunciated details of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s policy initiatives that reveal the APC’s emergent progressive ideological character. Under the APC in the last four years, there has been a massive channeling of public resources not just towards public infrastructure but also to succor the most vulnerable segments of the citizenry.

    Professor Osinbajo has constantly pungently reiterated the fact that, although the PMB administration has since 2015 earned far less from oil than the preceding PDP administrations did, the APC has done more in terms of investment in infrastructure and poverty alleviation in four years than the PDP recorded in 16 years. The PDP has found this irritating, annoying and no more than a mantra of excuses for failure to deliver on the APC’s electoral promises. But Osinbajo’s facts seem incontrovertible.

    In the VP’s words, “…lack of integrity in leadership and corruption, in particular, was the reason why we were finding it difficult to make progress. I explained that that’s why we earned $383 billion in four years, 2010-2014, the highest ever in the history of our country, and yet Lagos – Ibadan Expressway was not done. Lagos-Kano railway and all that is being done today were not done then. We cannot point to a single major infrastructure project that was completed in the 10-year period despite the high earnings including power”. On the contrary he reels out verifiable facts about the accomplishments of the PMB administration in infrastructure in its first term in diverse sectors including roads, rail transportation, bridges and power across the country’s geo-political zones.

    The scale of the APC’s investment in its Social Investment Programme (SIP) in the last four years is particularly remarkable. Through the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), for instance, loans ranging from N50,000 to N350,000 each were disbursed to more than 300,000 market women, traders, artisans and farmers across the country. This resulted in 349,000 beneficiaries opening new bank accounts/wallets thereby being drawn into the formal economy.

    Over two million petty traders gained access to micro-credit ranging from N50,000 to N150,000 through the Trader-Moni scheme administered by the Bank of Industry (BOI). Another 500, 000 traders operating through cooperatives benefitted from the Market-Moni micro credit scheme. And no less ambitious is the administration’s school feeding programme, which has provided a balanced meal for 9,300,892 pupils in 43,837 public primary schools in 26 states across Nigeria.

    Breaking this down, Osinbajo reveals that “the programme employs 95,422 cooks and over 100,000 smallholder farmers linked to the scheme” resulting in the “procurement, preparation and distribution of 594 cattle, 138,000 chickens, 6.8 million eggs and 83 metric tonnes of fish each week.” The positive implications of this kind of deliberate and unprecedented conditional cash transfer of resources towards those on the lowest rungs of society’s economic ladder cannot be overemphasized.

    It is of course obvious that with this massive infrastructure and social investment expenditure by the PMB administration, it is impossible for the grand larceny witnessed under the PDP, with a few individuals stealing humongous amounts of now recovered funds from state coffers, to take place under the APC. It is not that corruption has ceased to exist. But it cannot be practiced on a scale as injurious to the polity’s collective well being as witnessed during the GEJ administration.

    There is no doubt then that the APC is gaining in ideological clarity and organizational self definition. The party certainly does not derive intellectual inspiration from such extremist free market, neo-liberal economists such as Milton Friedman, Fredrick Hayek, W.W. Rostow  and his ‘non-communist manifesto’ or their political apostles such as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher or Donald Trump. For these, society is made up of atomistic individuals involved in a Darwinian ‘survival of the fittest’ struggle. Free market fetishism, like electricity, permits of no feelings. Efficiency as epitomized by corporate profits is its guiding angel. State welfare to cater for the weak is not only indulgent; it breeds inefficiency, hurts business and hobbles progress. The state is an indispensable evil that must only be tolerated and its debilitating expansive proclivity curbed through aggressive privatization, deregulation, public sector downsizing and drastic curtailment of social subsidies. Rather, economically virile individuals and organizations must be given maximum opportunity to thrive and make profit so that wealth can trickle down for the benefit of the less able specie of the free market jungle.

    The APC’s Social Investment Programme would appear to draw intellectual inspiration from progressive economists like Dudley Seers or the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics winner, Amartya Sen. It was Seer who posited the three questions: ‘What has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to unemployment? And what has been happening to inequality?’ as the most critical in determining a society’s level of development. According to Seers, “If one of two of these central problems have been growing worse, especially if all three have, it would be strange to call the result ‘development’ even if per capita income doubled”.

    Sen contends that inevitable components of any meaningful economic development must include freedom of opportunity, freedom to access credit as well as economic protection from abject poverty for the vast majority. As Professor Osinbajo never tires of pointing out, the APC’s massive social investment scheme would not even be on the cards at all but for PMB’s personal integrity and commitment to prudence, fiscal discipline and transparency in governance. That is why the resources are now available to be channeled for the benefit of the poor.

    Even then, Buhari’s inexplicable ambivalence, even indulgence, towards trusted members of his inner caucus who abuse his trust and taint his administration’s image must have been a factor in the PDP’s surprisingly impressive showing in the 2019 polls. If putting a check on such aberrant aides who constitute an albatross to his government is one of the promised ‘tough decisions’ to expect from Buhari in his second term, he may yet lay the foundation for a long stay in power by the progressives.

    The APC national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, a veteran labour activist and leader as well as brilliant progressive polemicist is no doubt best placed to give ideological direction to the APC. The more dynamic and result-oriented of the APC progressive governors obviously take their bearing from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s theory and praxis of governance as paradigm- setting helmsman of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.

    It is certainly for his commitment to the best interest of the party as well as his organizational, strategic and bargaining skills that party members defer to Tinubu honorifically as ‘National Leader’. Even more important and critical, in my view, is his role as intellectual torch bearer who seeks to constantly interrogate and make explicit what should be the ideological framework within which the APC’s vision and policies as a progressive party are grounded. This he did again during his 67th birthday colloquium when he stated clearly his perception of the right ideological course for the party to chart.

    In his words, “People the world over more than ever are questioning the centre-right conservative model that has, with few exceptions, governed the world for the last half century…Our pursuit of the Next Level cannot be achieved by blindly following the economic path of other nations. That would be tantamount to racing to live in a building just as its long term occupants were frantically rushing out, screaming that the edifice was crumbling. We dare not enter”.

    Continuing, Tinubu avers, “Our economy must be redefined to be an efficient yet moral social construct with the primary goal of optimizing the long-term welfare of the people through the sustained, productive and full employment of labour, land, capital and natural resources… To pull the nation from poverty, government must play a decisive role. It must at times direct and even develop markets and opportunities. This is nothing novel. I am only restating what the established economies did when they were young and assumed their trajectories toward growth”.

    This is certainly food for thought for the APC as the party strives to achieve greater ideological clarity even as Nigerians look forward to a better deal under Buhari’s Next Level agenda. It is instructive that as military head of state between 1983 and 1985 and even now, Buhari has continued to evince an instinctual mistrust for the free market orthodoxies of the Breton Woods Institutions.

     

    • Next week: Ideology and PDP’s Electoral Resurgence

  • Enugu East: Nnaji loses senatorial seat to Nnamani

     

  • Tribunal orders substituted service on Ihedioha, PDP

    The Imo State Elections Tribunal has granted the application by the lawyer to the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), Okey Amechi, for substituted service on the Governor-elect, Emeka Ihedioha and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The Chairman of the Panel Justice M.O Adewara, granted the leave to serve the second and third respondents on the wall of their buildings or by delivering same to an agent at the PDP office at No 98 Okigwe Road, Owerri.

    The AA governorship candidate, Uche Nwosu, had petitioned the tribunal to quash the March 9 election which Ihedioha won.

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    Nwosu prayed the tribunal to, among other things, determine and thus declare that Ihedioha did not satisfy the requirements of Section 179(2) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), having failed to poll not less than one-quarter of all the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the Local Government Areas in Imo State at the governorship election of March 9, 2019.

    “An order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a run-off election between the Petitioners and the second and third respondents into the office of Governor of Imo State forthwith, as prescribed under Section 179 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)”.

  • ‘Good times ahead in Rivers’

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council in Rivers State has said there are excellent times ahead in the state with Governor Nyesom Wike’s victory at the polls.

    The Director of Information and Communications, Emma Okah, in a statement yesterday, thanked the people for their support for Wike and other candidates of the party.

    He thanked  God for using the people to work for  Wike’s re-election.

    A thank you message by the Director of Information and Communications, Emma Okah, noted that their resilience, prayers and steadfast support helped to overcome anti-democratic forces.

    Okah was happy with Churches, traditional rulers and leaders of thought, women, youth groups, within and outside the state, for their prayers and support which culminated in Wike’s victory.

    He also underscored the roles played by the security agencies in ensuring that the collation was hitch-free, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for their commitment to concluding the collation exercise despite threats of violence.

    Read also: Politicians filed 736 petitions against 2019 elections

    The publicity secretary also lauded local and international observers, and the media, for being professional in the due discharge of their assignments. He also commiserated with families who were bereaved during the elections. He promised that the killers will not go unpunished, and the government will not forget their sacrifices.

    The Chairman, Felix Obuah, maintained that Wike’s victory was well deserved.

    He said: “I joined the train of well-wishers to congratulate the Governor-elect on his well-deserved victory. The victory has put paid to any doubt about God’s infallibility, especially to those who put absolute trust in Him.

    “The victory is not just for Governor Wike and the PDP, but for all lovers of true democracy and the people. It is a litmus test for our democracy.

    “Governor Wike’s victory is unprecedented in the annals of Rivers State, as it could only take God’s intervention to survive the gang-up and the evil conspiracy by enemies of the state. This victory has shown that our God is a miracle worker. God has clearly shown that the fervent and heartfelt prayers being offered by Rivers people are not in vain. Truly, He has disappointed all the counsel of Ahithophel, including all the people who arrogate the place of God to themselves.”

  • Elections victory: PDP BoT congratulates party, candidates

    The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated the party for the success recorded by it and its candidates in the just concluded general elections.

    The BoT Chairman, Sen. Walid Jubrin, sent the party organ’s congratulatory message at a press conference after its 65th meeting held on Thursday in Abuja.

    Jubrin said that in spite of the challenges faced by PDP candidates in the general elections, they performed well.

    He expressed the board’s support to all the party’s candidates who were in court to seek redress for their grievances during the elections.

    He stated: “The BOT hereby wishes to congratulate our great party and all our candidates who participated in the 2019 elections, for bracing the odds and strengthening democratic rules and culture.

    “This was done in spite of the unprecedented level of militarisation which runs clearly against the letters and spirit of the judgment of the Supreme Court that says the military has no business in the conduct of elections.

    Read also: PDP cautions Kogi lawmakers over alleged plot to remove Chief Judge

    “The BOT also wishes to assure Nigerians and all members of our great party, especially those whose mandate were stolen, that the BoT stands by them at all times in the wheat to reclaim the mandate freely given to them by the good people of Nigeria.”

    Jubrin expressed the board’s dismay over what he described as systematic erosion of the gains made under the PDP administration in enhancing the credibility of the electoral process over the years.

    “The BoT calls on all Nigerians, especially our teeming PDP supporters to stay calm and be law-abiding as we believe justice will take its proper place in spite of the traumatisation of the judicial arm of government by the present administration,” he added (NAN)

  • PDP cautions Kogi lawmakers over alleged plot to remove Chief Judge

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has cautioned members of the Kogi State House of Assembly against allowing Governor Yahaya Bello to push them to act beyond their boundaries.

    The warning is coming on the heel of alleged conspiracy by the governor and the state assembly to forcefully remove the state Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajana.

    A statement Thursday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said there is no provision in the nation’s constitution that empowered the state legislature to superintend over the judiciary or usurp the powers and functions of the National Judicial Council (NJC) on issues pertaining to judges, let alone a state Chief Judge.

    The party said the recommendation of the Kogi House of Assembly for the removal of the State Chief Judge was misdirected shadowboxing.

    The PDP said the alleged plot did not only expose the state legislature to public ridicule but also reinforced impressions and allegations in the public space that it has been compromised to execute ignoble schemes of the state executive.

    The main opposition party said the development was not healthy for the image of the legislators in the state and could lead to their recall by their constituents.

    “The powers and functions of the state legislature vis-a-vis those of the judiciary are well carved out in our laws and should be respected at all times. The ostensibly induced action of the Kogi state legislature is, therefore, a direct affront to our constitution and invitation to anarchy.

    “The Kogi lawmakers should note that they were elected to uphold good governance and rule of law for the benefit and welfare of the people of Kogi state, and not as instruments of witch-hunt and intimidation in the hands of an anti-people, repressive, incompetent and grossly corrupt administration, which has no regard for the law and the will of the people.

    “Moreover, the lawmakers should note that in ditching the constitutional provision of separation of powers and joining in assaulting the independence and sanctity of the judiciary, they are also setting their parliament on the path of self-destruct and complete annexation by the executive.

    “The party, therefore, charges the members of the Kogi State House of Assembly to immediately retrace their steps and ensure that as lawmakers, they are not found on the wrong side of the law,” the statement added.