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  • 12 states to watch as APC, PDP

    Apart from Anambra, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Ondo, Osun and Bayelsa states, where governorship elections take place at different dates, there will elections in 29 other states today. Some of the states are regarded as battlegrounds, where the contest is likely to be fierce. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI looks at the prospects in some of the states.

    AFTER penultimate Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, political parties shifted attention to today’s governorship elections, particularly in Lagos State because of its cosmopolitan  nature and its status as the nation’s commercial capital, and  number of battleground states across the nation.

    Two  of the  states where governorship elections are going to take place in the Southwest this time around have been dubbed as battlegrounds, because of the peculiar nature of the contests in these states. The states are  Ogun and  Oyo. There will be no governorship elections in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun, because the contest takes place in the three states on dates outside the regular four-year election cycle. In the Southeast, the elections in Imo and Abia have been generating interest from observers from far and near, because of the situation on ground in the states and the intrigues that are expected to shape their outcome. For the South-South, the states to watch are: Akwa Ibom and Delta. The contest in the North-Central states of Kwara, Plateau and Benue would also give stakeholders there sleepless nights. With the possible exception of Sokoto, Gombe and Adamawa states, where there have been a realignment of forces in recent times, the governorship contest in Northwest and the Northeast states appear to be tilted in favour of the APC, because of the Buhari factor.

    Ogun

    Before last year’s governorship primaries of the APC and the PDP in Ogun State, today’s election was widely expected to be a straight fight between the two parties. But the crises that emerged after the exercise led to the reconfiguration of the political space. While the PDP is battling with the factionalisation that has seen Mr. Ladi Adebutu and Senator Buruji Kashamu lay claim to the party’s ticket, it is the APC crisis that has had a far more devastating impact on the state’s political tempo and colouration.

    The APC crisis began when the Ogun State APC chapter, firmly under the control of Governor Ibikunle Amosun, organised its internal affairs to select candidates for the 2019 general elections through the consensus option. This process produced Adekunle Akinlade as the party’s candidate. However, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) refused to ratify the emergence of Akinlade and other candidates produced by the consensus approach, saying that the party’s candidates must be selected through direct primary. Subsequently, the Amosun camp refused to participate in the primaries conducted by the panel set up by NWC. It was the panel’s primary that produced Dapo Abiodun as the party’s candidate.

    With Amosun’s backing, Akinlade and his supporters in the party defected to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), with a large chunk of the APC structure. As a result, the Ogun governorship race has become complicated, because of Amosun’s decision to go against the wishes of the party leadership by backing his preferred successor. This development has thrown the race open, because it may lead to the sharing of APC votes with the APM candidate. Before now, the only factor that united them was the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.  Both the APC and the APM have now gone their separate ways, making the governorship race unpredictable. The President’s position in the matter does not help matters; he had enjoined the electorate during the recent campaign rally in the state to vote for a candidate of their choice during the governorship election.  With this state of affairs, the APC has resigned itself to winning without Amosun’s support. The recent decision to suspend the governor appears to be coming too late. Following his declaration as the winner of the Ogun Central senatorial race, Amosun has been going about openly campaigning for Akinlade, with the full backing of the state machinery.    The PDP would have reaped from the crisis in the APC, if it were not for the internal squabble within the main opposition party itself. INEC recognises Senator Kashamu as the party’s flagbearer, while the PDP national leadership insists that Adebutu is the party’s choice. Both Adebutu, a member of the House of Representatives, and Kashamu had been locked in litigation over the party’s ticket as they both emerged from two parallel congresses. INEC recognises Kashamu as the party’s candidate in compliance with a subsisting court judgment.

    The crisis in the Ogun chapter of the PDP has been a big distraction that has prevented the party from fully concentrating on the campaign. On Thursday,the immediate past governor of the state and PDP  chieftain,Otunba Gbenga Daniel, directed his supporters to cast their votes for APC’s Dapo Abiodun today. Simultaneously,Adebutu reached out to Akinlade for a working agreement that will see his (Adebutu’s) supporters vote for Akinlade.

    Under the agreement, Akinlade will reward  Adebutu and his supporters with key appointments and contracts,if he emerges as governor. The new alliances have tended to brighten the chances of both Abiodun and Akinlade above those of other candidates. The fourth candidate that is expected to feature prominently in the Ogun governorship race is Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (GNI) of the ADC. This is the third time Isiaka, who is popularly known as GNI, would be contesting the Ogun governorship. Isiaka first contested for the Ogun governorship seat in 2011.

    After failing to secure the ticket of the PDP, his principal backer, former Governor Gbenga Daniel, floated another platform, the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), to actualise the ambition. This followed the disagreement between him and former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the choice of the PDP governorship flagbearer. It remains to be seen whether Isiaka would profit from the internal crisis rocking the APC and the PDP in the state. GNI’s second attempt, when he flew the PDP flag, was his best shot at the Ogun governorship so far.

    Oyo

    There are 37 parties on the ballot in Oyo State. Apart from the APC and the PDP, the other notable parties are the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Action Democratic Party (ADP). Before penultimate Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, the Oyo governorship was a bit complicated.

    But, following the performance of the PDP in the presidential election, the Oyo governorship race has become a two-horse race between the PDP candidate, Mr. Seyi Makinde, and the APC flagbearer, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, as there has been a fresh realignment of forces.

    Four major opposition parties have teamed up to present a single candidate for today’s election. The parties are: the PDP, the ADC, the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which were hitherto considered as some of the frontrunners in the contest.

    They signed an agreement on Monday to back the governorship candidate of the PDP, Makinde, as a consensus candidate for the election. The bid to form an alliance to tackle the APC started few days to the presidential and National Assembly elections. The ADC and the ZLP had last weekend denied that an agreement had been reached to support Makinde. This was, however, resolved on Monday with the signing of the agreement.

    The idea to come together, it is said, was mooted by former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, who is the candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP). AlaoAkala had approached his former boss, Rashidi Ladoja, on the need for him to lead other opposition political parties to defeat the APC. Alao-Akala was deputy governor when Ladoja was elected governor in 2003.

    But, ironically Alao-Akala has since abandoned the group and aligned with Adelabu of the APC, after he reportedly met with the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    Meanwhile, the ADP leadership has asked Alao-Akala to bury the thought of leaving the party. In a statement issued on Monday, the party said it was too late in the middle of the game for the former governor to align with any political party. It stated that as far as the party’s leadership was concerned, Alao-Akala remains its governorship candidate.

    The APC candidate appears to an upper hand on the contest, going by the fact that the party has governed the state in the last eight years and has a handful of achievements to showcase for the years it has been in power.

    Adelabu may be new to some in the Oyo politics, but he is, nonetheless, enjoying the legacy of his grandfather, the late dazzling politician and iconoclast, Chief Adegoke Adelabu (Penkelemesi). Born on September 28, 1970, the young Adelabu, who is a chip off the old block, would ride on the back of his party at the election.

    Makinde is also not a push over. Born on December 25, 1967, he has not hidden his interest to occupy the Agodi Government House from the outset. An engineer by profession, he contested the Oyo governorship election in 2015 on the platform of the SDP and came fifth, behind Ajimobi, Ladoja, Alao-Akala and Teslim Folarin of the PDP in that order. Makinde was the main financier of the SDP then and, being his first outing, he had remarkable results in local governments in Ibadanland. Since the end of the election, he had continued to interact with the people and keep nursing his ambition.

    To bolster his chances in the 2019 election, he returned to his former party, the PDP, on September 4, 2017, after consultations with national leaders, state leaders and elders of the SDP. With Ladoja out of the race this time, Makinde seems to enjoy the support of the traditional institution in Ibadanland. He also has a good relationship with members of the Ibadan elite, a factor that may swing Ibadan votes in his favour.

    Lagos

    The Lagos governorship race is also a two-horse race between the APC and the PDP. Like in the case of Oyo, the odds in the Lagos race are stacked in favour of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC, because the state has been governed successfully by the party in the last 20 years of civilian rule.

    The APC structure in the state is intact and this would surely be deployed to secure Sanwo-Olu’s victory in today’s election.  Indeed, the APC intensified its campaign after the presidential and National Assembly elections, by trying to woo non-indigenes, particularly those of Igbo extraction who had always voted for the PDP in the previous elections.

    With a very rich professional career as a banker where he rose to the enviable senior executive position of Deputy General Manager, Sanwo-Olu is well suited to bring the proficiency, efficiency and singlemindedness of a corporate czar that delivers value to governance in Lagos. His 12 years’ experience in Lagos public service where he served at the highest level as a cabinet level special adviser and also a commissioner for eight years in the Ministry of Establishment, with responsibility for the entire state civil service in terms of Human Capital development and increased productivity, means his skills in public administration is practical and wellhoned.

    Nevertheless, the PDP’s Jimi Agbaje is not a pushover and his bid to govern the state cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. This is the third attempt of the pharmacist-turnedpolitician to become the governor of Lagos. He first contested in 2007 on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA). In 2015, he also ran against incumbent Governor Akinwumi Ambode.

    Unlike four years ago, when the PDP was at the helm of affairs, Agbaje’s campaign this time around appeared to be hindered by funds. The central theme of his campaign is the idea of freeing the state from the stranglehold of the APC. But, this does not appear to resonate well with a larger percentage of the population, who appreciate that successive APC administrations in the state since 1999 have a record of good performance.

    Imo

    Imo is another battleground state. There are as many as 68 candidates on the INEC list, but the frontline candidates include: Hope Uzodinma of the APC; Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP; Senator Ifeanyi Ararume of the APGA; and Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA).

    Those who know Uzodinma closely say that he is an epitome of compassion and philanthropy. A political entrepreneur with little or no time for malice and calumny, Uzodinma comes to the Imo governorship race fully prepared with his eyes fixed on the ball. But the crisis rocking the APC in the state may work against his ambition.

    Indications are that Ihedioha may reap from the crisis in the APC. The PDP candidate would see the result of last Saturday’s presidential election in the state as a boost. The result announced by INEC at its office in Owerri showed that Atiku got 334,923 votes, to defeat Buhari who garnered 140,463.

    It would have been a herculean task for him, if the political dynasty of Okorocha had not been decimated. The PDP candidate, who represented Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has been the most loyal, dedicated and consistent in the pursuit of his ambition among all  the candidates.

    Of all the major governorship aspirants, he is the only one that has not jumped ship. He has remained a loyal and committed member of the PDP right when he joined the party at inception.

    Nwosu is Okorocha’s anointed successor. He defected to the AA after he lost his bid to contest on APC platform. Observers see Okorocha’s attempt to foist his political dynasty on the people as his worst transgression he committed.

    Nevertheless, Nwosu will be hoping to tap into Okorocha’s dwindling base. The AA candidate’s campaign is well funded, because he enjoys the full backing of the state machinery, which is controlled by Governor Okorocha.

    But, aside from the Okorocha factor, the AA has no voter base anywhere. It was a briefcase party before Nwosu came into the picture and breathed some life into it.

    Abia

    The Abia governorship election is likely to be another two-horse race between the PDP and the APC. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, who has been under criticisms for his lacklustre performance in the last four years, will contend with Dr. Sampson Uche Ogah of the APC. Other major contenders are Dr Alex Otti of APGA and Mrs Blessing Nwagba of the SDP.

    Incumbency is the main advantage Ikpeazu of the PDP enjoys over other contenders. Given the strength of the PDP in the region, he remains the candidate to beat.

    The victory of former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu in the recent Abia North senatorial race on the platform of the APC will certainly spur the party to approach today’s governorship contest with a positive spirit.

    Another factor the APC had going for it in Abia is the purported strategic partnership between it and APGA. Under the partnership, the APGA candidate, Otti, was expected to step down for his APC counterpart, Ogah. Observers had hailed the development as the only way to unseat the PDP, which is very strong in the region.

    But a few days ago, the APGA flagbearer was insisting that he is still in the race. The Director, Media and Publicity of Alex Otti Campaign Organisation, Mr Kazie Uko, said Dr. Otti has not stepped down from the race.

    In a statement in Umuahia last Sunday, Kazie said Otti “is still very much in the race”.  He described the rumour that the former bank executive had stepped down for Ogah of the APC as unfounded. He added: “The rumour is a false and deliberate attempt by desperate politicians to confuse the Abia electorate. We urge Abia indigenes not to be distracted by false rumours being spread by rejected and hopeless politicians and their collaborators.”

    Abia has been described as the worst state in the Southeast in terms of physical infrastructure and development generally.

    Delta

    Delta State has been governed by the PDP since the return to civil rule in 1999. But, the state is one of those the ruling APC at the centre has been eying to take over from the PDP. Though the results of the recent presidential and National Assembly elections do not suggest that the state is likely to embrace the broom revolution of the APC, today’s governorship election may be a turning point for the South-South state.

    Chief Great Ogboru of the APC is warming up to challenge Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in the election. But, the odds appear to be stacked in Okowa’s favour; no thanks to the zoning arrangement. There is a prevailing sentiment in Delta North and Delta South to allow the Anioma people to complete their eight-year slot before power shifts from the zone.

    But, Ogboru who is backed in his quest by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege would not entertain such prospects. The APC flagbearer has been contesting for the Delta governorship since 2003; meaning that he ran in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. He lost in all the contests to candidates of the PDP. The APC chieftain who contested the 2015 on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) had described the election as his final battle in the quest to “liberate the people of Delta State”.

    A persistent and unrelenting politician, Ogboru has been moving from one party to the other to actualise his ambition to govern the state. He contested in 2003 on the platform of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD); in 2007 and 2011 as a candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and in 2015 as the flagbearer of the LP. He lost in each of those attempts and challenged the results at the election petitions tribunal each time.

    Akwa Ibom

    The Akwa Ibom race is a straight fight between Governor Udom Emmanuel of the PDP and Obong Nsima Ekere of the APC. Observers believe it is going to be a tough battle.

    Ekere’s campaign has been enjoying a momentum, particularly with the number of former PDP chieftains in the state that have defected to the APC in recent times. The APC flagbearer who served the state as deputy governor under former Governor Godswill Akpabio believes Governor Udom has failed to justify the mandate the people of Akwa Ibom gave him four years ago and therefore should be voted out in today’s election. He said the Udom administration has not been able to add anything to the existing infrastructural development in the state and that basic assets inherited have been left to decay.

    Citing the menace of cultists in three local government areas, the APC flagbearer said his PDP counterpart has also failed in his role as chief security officer of the state. He added: “The number one responsibility of government is security of lives. Akwa Ibom is usually a very peaceful state. I can tell you today that in three local government areas of the state, the people are not able to sleep at night. They have been overwhelmed by cultists and there is a lot of insecurity. So, you can see that the people have today totally lost confidence in this government.”

    Conversely, the PDP flagbearer sees his candidature as a divine mandate. The Udom camp believes that the defection of Senator Akpabio has sealed the victory for the PDP, because the people of the state are desirous of continuing with the peace and tranquility that the state enjoyed before the arrival of the former governor.

    The governor’s camp also insists that there has been a lot of development and that there is now decorum in the management of the state’s resources.

    But, the governor appears to be unpopular on the streets of Uyo, the state capital, particularly among civil servants, who accuse him of denying them some of their emoluments, like several years of leave allowances and pensions. As a result, there is visible anger on the streets, whenever his name is mentioned.

    How far this will go in deciding the outcome of today’s governorship election remains to be seen.

    Sokoto

    The Sokoto governorship election is perceived as a battle between incumbent Governor Aminu Tambuwal and his erstwhile leader and mentor, Senator Aliyu Wamakko. Observers say the emergence of Tambuwal’s deputy, Ahmed Aliyu, as the flagbearer of the APC did not come as a surprise, considering his close relationship with Wamakko.

    Tambuwal’s camp was happy with the emergence of Aliyu, because Faruk Malami Yabo would have been far more difficult for the PDP to contend with in the general election.

    The Sokoto governorship election is regarded as a battle of supremacy between Tambuwal and Wamakko. The former governor of the state parted ways with Tambuwal when the latter returned to the PDP last year, to pursue his presidential ambition. The stage is now set for the political showdown between Tambuwal and his one-time political leader and predecessor.

    As an incumbent governor seeking for a second term, Tambuwal would deploy every weapon in his arsenal to win the election. Otherwise, he would become politically irrelevant in the state after the May 29 handover.

    On the other hand, the overwhelming victory of the APC in the recent presidential and National Assembly elections in the state would propel the party in its quest to reclaim the key Northwest state.

    Before the February 23 elections, observers had indicated that Wamakko and the APC would have an uphill task persuading the electorate to vote for Aliyu, because people see him as Wamakko’s boy. The APC leader’s support for Aliyu is believed to have angered some stakeholders in the party, who accuse the former governor of “over pampering” Aliyu since 2007 over and above other party men who equally have ambitions. In 2007, Aliyu was appointed Commissioner for Social Welfare and Youth Development and in 2011, of Health. These privileges were capped when he was made the deputy governor in 2015.

    Aliyu’s key opponent among other contestants was Faruk Yabo, who at the time of the primary, was seen as a bigger threat to Tambuwal. Yabo too had equally served as a commissioner in two ministries — Finance and Local Government — during the eight-year tenure of Wamakko.

    Plateau

    Plateau is another state where the two major will lock horns today. In the election, incumbent Governor Simon Lalong will represent the APC, while Senator Jeremiah Useni will fly the flag of the PDP. Until the 2015 general elections, the state had been governed by the PDP.  It was narrowly snatched by the APC in 2015.

    Going by the results of the 2015 governorship election and those of the recent presidential and National Assembly elections, it promises to be an epic battle. In 2015, Lalong was declared winner with a slim margin; he secured a total of 564,913 to defeat the PDP candidate, Senator Gyang Pwajok, who got 520,627; a difference of 24,286 votes.

    Interestingly, in the recent presidential election, the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, won in 11 out of the 17 local governments with an overall margin of 80,110 votes. Atiku received a total of 548,665 votes, while President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC scored 468,555 votes. The results of the National Assembly elections do not give any indication of where the pendulum would swing.

    Kwara

    The people of Kwara State are set to vote in a landmark governorship election today where Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, is expected to fight for his political survival. Saraki’s loss of his Kwara Central seat in the upper legislative chamber to his APC opponent, Yahaya Oloriegbe, in the recent election is a pointer to what may play out at the governorship election.

    The more-than-usual excitement in the state and elsewhere in the country over the coming governorship election is driven by the resurgence of the opposition, following the decision of Saraki and his political associates to return to the PDP last year.

    The excitement generated by the APC’s battle cry — Oto Ge or Enough is Enough — has reverberated across the country, even before the victory of the APC in penultimate Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

    Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is the APC flagbearer in the election. The APC candidate will face Razak Atunwa of the PDP in the election. But, today’s governorship election in Kwara is not about the candidates and their programmes: it is about who controls the politics of the North Central state.

    Gombe

    Gombe is another state where the APC will lock horns with the PDP. Apart from Taraba, Gombe is the only northern state that survived the Buhari tsunami of 2015.

    Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bayero Nafada, is the PDP candidate in the election, while Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya is the flagbearer of the APC.

    Given the results of the presidential and National Assembly elections, the odds are stacked in favour of the APC, in spite of the fact that the PDP is the ruling party in the state. In penultimate Saturday’s National Assembly election, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo lost his bid to represent Gombe North in the Senate. The APC presidential candidate, President Buhari, also trounced his PDP counterpart, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in the state.

    Over the years, the APC has not hidden its quest to take over Gombe, where President Buhari enjoys a huge popularity. The PDP may be on the verge of losing the Northeast state, with the spate of defections from the PDP to the APC in recent times.

    Adamawa

    There are six major parties contesting today’s Adamawa governorship election.  These are the APC, the PDP, the SDP, the ADC, the Alliance for New Nigerian (ANN) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). But the front-runners in the race are: Governor Mohammed Bindow of the APC, former Acting Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP, Senator Abdulaziz Nyako of the ADC and Emmanuel Bello of the SDP.

    Ordinarily, Bindow should be confident of winning the contest, as the incumbent. But his emergence as the flagbearer of the APC is still generating controversy. His opponents within the APC had threatened to support one of the opposition parties should the APC national leadership fail to cancel the primary.

    But, the APC is confident of winning the state again. The APC Organising Secretary, Ahmed Lawan, told The Nation on Tuesday that the party is taking all the steps necessary to reconcile the aggrieved parties. His words: “We are trying to reconcile all the aggrieved members to work for the victory of the party in Saturday’s governorship election, because we realised our mistake during the presidential and National Assembly elections, which we contested as a divided house. Some lawmakers were given automatic tickets and this did not go down well with many aspirants.”

    Lawan said the PDP is doing everything possible to wrest power from the APC. He said the APC has been receiving defectors from other parties since the victory of President Buhari in the recent presidential election.

    The PDP’s Fintiri has been enjoying some momentum in the last days of the campaign. A few days ago, he received a huge boost, as 10 governorship candidates stepped down and declared their support for him. The candidates announced the decision after a meeting with Fintiri on Monday in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

    The candidates are: Sadiq Khaliel of the MRDD, Danjuma Musa of the FJP, Naziru Sa’ad of the ZLP, Ahmed Hassan of the DA, Salihu Danjuma of the APM, Abdullahi Usman of the NCP, Bappari Umar of the Kowa Party, Lami Musa of the PPN, Elizabeth Isa of the CAP and Frank Simon of the Mega party.

    The former acting governor, nick-named ATM, is popular with civil servants for paying the controversial two months salaries of striking workers withheld by his predecessor due to a no-work-no-pay policy in 2014 and is expected to pull more crowd than the incumbent governor.

    Abdulaziz, the son of former Governor Murtala Nyako, is counting on the goodwill of his father who enjoys grassroots support in the state. A retired commander and serving senator, Abdulaziz, has expended the membership base of the ADC since his defection from the APC.

    Bello, the SDP candidate, may be one of the candidates to beat if Christians decide to give him block votes, being the only Christian among the four contending parties.

  • PDP to Buhari: Atiku’ll soon reclaim his mandate

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop gloating and showboating on Nigerians with the “stolen” 2019 presidential mandate, saying that its candidate, Atiku Abubakar would soon retrieve the mandate at the tribunal.

    The party described President Buhari’s renewed attack on the PDP’s 16 years administrations as a lame attempt to divert public attention from the overwhelming evidence that he rigged the elections.

    A statement Saturday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan said the President’s statement that the PDP has questions to answer on its 16-year stewardship was part of the plots to obstruct the clear winner, Atiku Abubakar, from going to the tribunal to reclaim the mandate freely given to him by Nigerians.

    The statement said, “It indeed speaks volumes that President Buhari, in his claimed integrity and anti-corruption stance, is grandstanding over the violent rigging of the elections and his attempt to foist himself into a second term in office on the pedestal of stolen votes.

    “President Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) should know that the PDP and Nigerians are focused and will not be distracted by any sort of blackmail in the pursuit of the mandate and we are confident that our justices will never allow an illegitimate government to sit over the affairs of our dear nation.

    “Moreover, if anybody has a question to answer on the administration of the nation’s resources, it is President Buhari, who has not been able to offer any explanation on the looting of over N14 trillion from revenue generating agencies in a space of three years under his direct supervision.

    “We ask; was it the PDP that siphoned over N9 trillion, through underhand contracts, as detailed in the leaked NNPC memo, in the same sector President Buhari directly supervises as Minister of Petroleum Resources?

    “Was it the PDP that stole the over N1.1 trillion worth of crude illegally lifted and diverted with 18 unregistered companies in 2017; the over N1.4 trillion in fraudulent oil subsidy regime and many more scams, including funds meant for the welfare of victims of insurgency in the North East under the Buhari administration?”.

    The main opposition party insisted that its past administrations created wealth and applied national resources on massive infrastructural development in all critical sectors.

    It also claimed credit for paying off the nation’s huge foreign and domestic debts and grew the economy to be one of the fastest growing in the world.

    The party observed that President Buhari on the other hand, ran the economy into recession within a space of three years without being able to point to any development project his administration initiated and completed despite the huge opportunities at his disposal.

    “President Buhari must note that Nigerians are no longer interested in his incompetence and blame game and this is the very reason they voted massively against him on February 23. He should therefore end his diversionary tactics and get ready to meet the people’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in court,” the statement added.

  • Oyo: 42 candidates jostle for governorship seat

    659 for House of Assembly seats

    A total of 42 candidates are in the race for Saturday’s governorship election in Oyo State while 659 others are jostling for the 32 seats in the House of Assembly.

    Though some parties have adopted the governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Adebayo Adelabu and His Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival SETI Makinde, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) told The Nation that such adoptions are party affairs which have nothing to do with its arrangements for the election.

    INEC’s Head of Voter Education and Publicity in the state, Mr Ayodele Folami, said the logos of all the parties which fielded candidates were already printed on the ballot papers, stressing that votes cast for such parties would still be recorded accordingly.

    READ ALSO: PDP cautions INEC against declaring Oyo South Senatorial election inconclusive

    He said as far as the commission was concerned, 42 parties fielded governorship candidates for the election.

    The INEC spokesman also disclosed that all sensitive materials had been successfully distributed to all the wards, adding that they would get to polling units before 8:00 am tomorrow. He disclosed that distribution started early Thursday morning to councils in far distances after which the materials for closer ones followed.

    With the early and smooth distribution of the materials, Folami said voting is expected to start 8:00 am across the state tomorrow as scheduled.

    He said: “From all signals, election will start 8:00 am tomorrow. No delay is anticipated. All is set for the election with regard to both men and materials.”

     

  • PDP targets 15 seats in Edo Assembly

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) said it is targeting to win 15 seats out of the 24 available seats in the Edo State House of Assembly.

    It said it hoped to take control of the assembly with a view to entrenching good governance.

    Spokesman for the PDP in Edo State, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, who spoke in a chat with our reporter said the party was worried about the turnout for the polls on Saturday.

    Nehikhare said the party was worried over voters apathy in the polls.

    He said the voters turnout might be low because the people were not happy about the results of the February 23 general elections.

    His words, “We are worried about the turnout becae the people believed the result of the last election was not a true reflection of their votes.

  • Ogun PDP faction adopts Akinlade

    Hon. Ladi Adebutu faction of the People’s Democratic Party ( PDP ) on Thursday afternoon adopted Hon. Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) as its governorship candidate for the Saturday gubernatorial election in Ogun state.

    The deal was sealed at the Park Inn, Abeokuta, the state capital, with the factional Chairman of PDP in the State, Hon. Sikirullai Ogundele.

    Ogundele told reporters that the faction found Akinlade more credible and competent to govern the state than other contestants.

  • Owan-Enoh, Usani lay claim to guber ticket in Cross River

    With the governorship elections slated for Saturday in Cross River State, the Senator representing the central district of the state, John Owan-Enoh, and Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Usani Usani, still insist they are the governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    However, Owan-Enoh’s name had earlier been published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the governorship candidate of the party.

    Addressing reporters in Calabar on Thursday, Owan-Enoh, insisted he remains the only candidate of the party and anything else that is happening are just distractions.

    He said he is the only person that before the primary elections toured the whole state and met with the people.

    The lawmaker called on the public to troop out on Saturday and vote for the APC in the general elections.

    He the election was not about any individual or group but about the soul of the state, which he said is dying under the present administration.

    Owan-Enoh debunked reports that he was responsible was encouraging violence and also responsible for stoking the ember of violence.

    He accused the present People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led government of setting the tone for violence by allegedly appointing cultists into government.

    But also addressing reporters, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Usani, also claimed he is the candidate of the party in the state.

    Usani said it was his delight to consolidate his resolve to contest for the seat of the governor of the state.

    “I use this medium to express my determination toward this bid with honesty of purpose solely to rework the Cross River State moral, social, economic and collective value fabric whose outcome shall redefine our common identity of honesty and honour. I promise a safe, secure, inclusive and equal opportunity environment. I hereby request you to support this intention, our common destiny for a new face for Cross River State,” Usani said.

    Read Also: Owan-Enoh: Ayade has nothing to campaign for

    Owan-Enoh had emerged as the governorship candidate of the party last year in the direct primary elections conducted by the National Working Committee of the party led by Ali Magaji.

    But in a parallel congress conducted in the state by the Chairman of the gubernatorial election Committee, Emmanuel Annom, Usani had emerged as winner.

    This had led to a situation where there were two executive committees of the party in the state. Owan-Enoh belonged to the faction led by the late Dr Mathew Achigbe, now with Sir John Ochala in acting capacity. Usani on the other hand belonged to the camp led by Mr Godwin Etim John.

    Since then both of them had continued to lay claim to the ticket and this had to a series of litigations.

    A Federal High Court Judgment delivered by Justice Simon A Amobeda in Calabar on February 11 in a case filed by Etim John and two others challenging the legitimacy of the current State Executive Committee of the APC in Cross River State, led by the late Sir Mathew Achigbe who is now being represented in acting capacity by Sir John Ochala, had declared that the Etim John faction be taken as the legitimate state executive council of the party, hence INEC should only take names of candidates that come from this faction.

    On the eve of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, INEC had made an announcement, delisting Owan-Enoh and other candidates of the party.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Dr Frankland Briyai, had announced that all candidates submitted by All Progressives Congress in the state are to be removed.

    He said this was pursuant to an order of the High Court with suit number FHC/CA/CS/731/2018 between Godwin Etim John vs the APC and others.

    He said the logo and names of the APC would be retained pending the submission of the list of candidates by the Godwin Etim John led state executive by the national working committee in compliance with the order.

    However, last week, the Court of Appeal had sitting in Calabar on Wednesday granted a Stay of Execution Order, which reaffirmed Senator John Owan-Enoh and other candidates names’ submitted to INEC as candidates for the election.

    The panel of three Judges headed by Justice A. M Uwade directed that parties in the matter maintain Status Quo Ante pending determination of the substantive case.

    This latest order had been subjected to different interpretations by the two camps.

    While the Owan-Enoh faction claimed that Stay of Execution order and maintaining Status Quo simply reverses all that INEC may have done “in error or compromise of any sort”, the Usani camp interpreted it to mean that that things should return as they were before the appeal was brought to the court.

    Both camps have accused each other of working for the PDP in the state.

     

  • Atiku, PDP inciting supporters with claim of stolen mandate, says pro-Buhari group

    The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has accused the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar are deliberately inciting their supporters with the false impression of a “stolen mandate”, saying it was a calculated attempt to cause the breach of the peace after being rejected by a large majority of eligible voters on February 23.

    In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the organisation said what the PDP is doing is an assault on the sensibility of Nigerians and expressed concern over the attitude of the former Vice President.

    The pro-Buhari group said “We find it worrisome that PDP has been regaling Nigerians with hollow tales of a stolen mandate even before INEC completed the announcement of the Presidential election results. Equally worrisome is the attempt to equate their grouse with that of genuine pro-democracy groups over the June 12 1993 elections, and thereby nudge their supporters to take to the streets in protest.

    “PDP’s ploy to discredit the Presidential election as the worst in Nigeria’s political history is clearly dead on arrival, as it is a known fact that many of the elections conducted under PDP’s watch did not measure up to acceptable global standards”

    He said it was surprised that the PDP is talking about a mandate with an un-electable Presidential candidate that could not win even his polling centre, saying “Is it not amusing that PDP is claiming the mandate of an election that it was clearly unprepared for?

    “Here is a party that did not deem it necessary to campaign in sixteen states and the FCT, out of arrogance, yet it believes it did better than a ruling party that embarked on a three-layered political campaign led by President Muhammadu Buhari in every part of the country.

    “Even in terms of pedigree, PDP has little or nothing to show for its sixteen years in power at the centre, aside from abandoned infrastructural projects, yet it wants the world to believe that a majority of Nigerians were ready to trade the sure and steady progress under President Buhari for a return to locust years”.

    The BMO ask Atiku and his party to seek redress in court rather than encourage their supporters to engage in acts of disobedience, saying “This is a party that adopted a campaign theme of going to court to “claim its mandate” soon after President Muhammadu Buhari was declared winner but appears now to be dragging it feet.”

  • Chief whip to PDP: you can’t take over 9th National Assembly

    The main opposition party in the National Assembly, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been advised to banish any thought or attempt to wrestle the leadership of the 9th National Assembly from the majority party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

    House of Representatives Chief Whip, Hassan Ado Doguwa said APC has learnt its lesson and have taken steps to correct the mistakes of the past that led to the taking over of the leadership of the outgoing Assembly by PDP.

    Doguwa, who secured the ticket for the sixth term to represent Tudun Wada/Doguwa Federal constituency of Kano State inthe next House of Representatives however urged the leadership of APC to as a matter of urgency come out with the sharing zoning strategy for the principal offices in the two chambers of the National Assembly.

  • Court refuses to hands-off ex-minister Akinjide’s trial

    Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court in Lagos Wednesday refused to recuse himself from the trial of former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Mrs Jumoke Akinjide for alleged money laundering.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned her with a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader in Oyo State Chief Olarenwaju Otiti and a former Senator representing Oyo Central Senatorial District Ayo Adeseun.

    Former Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, said to be at large, is also named in the charge.

    Otiti and Adeseun had on February 6 prayed the judge to recuse himself from the case.

    They accused him of bias, claiming that as a former head of EFCC’s legal unit, they did not believe they would get justice in his court.

    Justice Hassan headed the EFCC’s legal unit before he was appointed a judge.

    The applications were filed after trial had begun, during which a trial-within-trial was also held.

    But, Justice Hassan dismissed the applications, describing them as “cheap blackmail”.

    He held: “As rightly submitted by the prosecution, at the time the defendants were investigated and subsequently charged before the Federal High Court in Ibadan, the trial judge had been appointed a judge already.

    “I agree with learned counsel for the prosecution that judges of superior courts of record swear to oath of allegiance to be just and fair, and cannot be disqualified from presiding over cases by mere allegations that the judge once worked in an organisation.

    “Learned counsel to the third defendant had filed a similar application for the transfer of the case to Ibadan.

    “On 12 December 2018, the court dismissed the application, only for counsel to turn around and raise allegations of bias.

    “These applications are meant to harass, intimidate and blackmail the court; the court will not succumb to cheap blackmail.

    “Both applications are liable to be dismissed and they are accordingly dismissed. I make no order as to cost,” the judge held.

    The defendants were re-arraigned last January 16 on the amended charge.

    EFCC accused them of conspiring to directly take possession of N650million from Mrs. Alison-Madueke, which they reasonably ought to have known was part of proceeds of an unlawful act, and without going through a financial institution.

    The alleged offence, EFCC said, contravenes the Money Laundering Act.

    Justice Hassan adjourned until April 18 for continuation of trial.

  • Breaking: Tribunal opens hearing in Atiku’s motion to inspect election materials

    The Presidential Election Tribunal has commenced the hearing of a motion ex-parte filed by the Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and his party to be allowed to inspect materials used for the February 23 presidential election.

    A three-man panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki is currently taking argument from the lawyer of Atiku and PDP, Chris Uche (SAN).

    Details shortly…