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Tag: PDP

  • PDP reps jubilate as Senators defect

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) members of the House of Representatives some few hours ago burst into jubilation when the news of the defections of Senators reached them.

    The lawmakers who have been milling in the lobby when the news of the siege in the Senate President’s house broken started chanting various songs of victory.

    Some of them that attempted gaining access into the Senate chamber were firmly denied by Seargent at Arms at the door.

    They sang “O my home” a children’s rhyme made popular by Senator Dino Melaye and taunted the Majority leader,  Femi Gbajabiamiila who happened to chance by at the time.

    Read Also: Senate: Gemade, Melaye, Kwankwaso, 12 others defect to PDP

    They mobbed him and many could be heard shouting “minority leader! minority leader! Conversely, the Deputy Minority leader Chukwuma Onyeama was hailed as “Majority Leader. ”

    But the atmosphere suddenly changed as the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara came in.  There were screams of “Dogara! Dogara! Dogara!” as they milled around him. until he took refuge in his office at the White House.

    Plenary has just began and signs of tension in the air is apparent

     

    More details later...

  • Senate: Gemade, Melaye, Kwankwaso, 12 others defect to PDP

    14 senators including Barnabas Gemade, Dino Melaye and Dr. Lanre Tejuoso  on Tuesday defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC)  to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Their letter of defection was read by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki ,during the Senate proceedings.

    Others are:

    Senator Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi

    Senator Muhammad Ubali Shitu

    Senator Rafiu Ibrahim

    Senator Isah Misau

    Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi

    Senator Monsurat Sunmonu

    Senator Abdulahi Danbaba

    Senator  Usman Bayero Nafada

    Senator Sulaiman Mohammed Nazif

    Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso

    Read Also: Tension: Police mount surveillance, block Saraki’s convoy

    Saraki later announced that Senator Abdullazeez Nyaku has also informed him of his defection from APC to PDP.

    There was palpable tension in the Senate chamber as  Saraki entered the place at 10.41 a.m.

    Citing Section 68(1G) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the defectors said “we hereby inform the Senate that we, the undersigned are changing our political affiliation from All Progressives Congress (APC) to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “We thank you for your exemplary leadership.”

    They said that their action was after due consultation with their constituents and stakeholders in their constituencies.

    Reacting to the development, Senate Leader, Sen. Ahmad Lawan, said “the APC, our party certainly has its own internal challenges.

    “But, Mr President, we all know how much effort he and other stakeholders have put into addressing the issues that bedevil this party.

    “The disagreements do not translate into factions. I therefore feel that our senators of the APC do not have to move to any other party.

    “I also believe that because the issues are under serious discussions by the major stakeholders of this party, I will urge that the announcement be quarantined.

    “Very seriously, this matter should be stepped down until we exhaust all the opportunities,” Lawan said.

    In his remarks, Saraki said “as you know and have seen that the seat beside you is empty.

    “As we speak, the Deputy Senate President cannot get out of his house.

    “He is under siege. This morning, I could not also leave my street as well, all by efforts of some people that believe that today’s sitting must not hold because some members want to move or defect.

    “It is not something that has started today; it will not end today; people have gone, they’ve come back.

    “But this kind of action does not allow for what you are saying.

    “You are speaking as the leader of the Senate, who has been here for many years.”

     

  • PDP lawless, undemocratic -Kashamu

     Sen. Buruji Kashamu has said that his  expulsion from the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), by the National Executive Committee(NEC) of the party would not stand.

    “It is clear from the ill-advised decision that the Prince Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee is lawless and undemocratic,” Buruji said in a reaction to his expulsion by the party.

    “No due process was followed as enshrined in the Constitution of the party.

    “Since the initial 30-day suspension elapsed on Jan. 9, 2018, they do not have any right to take any disciplinary action against me.

    “This decision cannot stand because Article 57 (6) of the PDP Constitution which says ‘Any decision taken against a member who has not been informed of the charges against him or has not been given any opportunity of defending himself shall be null and void,’” he said.

    The lawmaker added that there are  two suits challenging his initial suspension.

    “The first is Suit No. FHC/L/ABJ/CS/1254/2017 between Senator Buruji Kashamu vs. PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, the National Secretary and INEC before the Honourable Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

    “PDP should not forget that it also instituted a case against me and other leaders of the party in the South West at the High Court of the Federal Territory in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/0303/2017 as per the Honourable Justice Valentine Ashi.

    “The court made an order nullifying and setting aside my purported suspension on the 9th of January, 2018.The court also ordered parties, including PDP to maintain status quo.

    “There are also counter-claims in the said suit at the FCT High Court praying the court for ‘an order restraining the plaintiffs (PDP) their agents, servants and privies from taking any disciplinary action against the 1st – 4th defendants (with me and the authentic Ogun State PDP Chairman, Engr. Adebayo Dayo as the 1st and 4th defendants).

    ” The directive was on account of any actions and/or conduct or steps taken by them individually and jointly to make the plaintiff abide by its constitution and observe democratic principles in all its dealings with the 1st – 4th defendants.”

    The lawmaker said the purported expulsion did not have anything to do with him  or any of his associates.

    He said, “It is instructive that the Federal High Court as per the Honourable Justice I.N. Buba on the 24th June, 2016, granted an order.

    ” An order which banned the PDP from impeding the functions of the Engr. Adebayo Dayo-led Ogun State PDP Exco until the four year tenure which they have been elected is spent.

    “That the State Exco is to remain in office until 2020.

    “I and my associates are fully in the PDP whether anybody likes it or not. We will continue to operate as PDP members, senator and exco.”

    The PDP on Monday announced the expulsion of Sen. Buruji Kashamu from the party.

    Others expelled from the party are Samiu Sodipo, Dayo Adebayo and Segun Seriki.

  • Ogunbiyi urges PDP to declare him Osun primary winner

    An aspirant in last weekend’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary in Osun State, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, had urged the party’s leadership to declare him winner.

    Apart from claiming to have scored the highest lawful votes cast, contrary to what was announced, Ogunbiyi faulted the educational qualification of Senator Ademola Adeleke, who was declared winner.

    Ogunbiyi told reporters yesterday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, that he was at the party’s national secretariat to petition its leadership over the result of the primary which produced Adeleke as the standard bearer for the September 22 poll.

    The PDP chieftain narrowly lost to Adeleke, polling 1,562 votes as against 1,569 votes by the latter.

    In a petition addressed to the Chairman, Governorship Electoral Appeal Panel of the PDP, the aspirant said 42 voided votes and 128 unaccounted votes were for him.

    He added that the total votes he garnered at the poll were 1,732.

    “I, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, having polled the highest number of votes in the primary election of July 21, be declared the validly nominated/ elected PDP governorship candidate for the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Osun,” he said.

    Ogunbiyi also called for the disqualification of Adeleke, based on the faulted process of the primary.

    He added: “Contrary to Section 30, Sub-Section ‘E’ of the Electoral Guidelines for primary election 2018, the total number of delegates accredited was not announced before the commencement of voting.”

    Ogunbiyi alleged that the document submitted by Adeleke as evidence of his educational qualification up to school certificate level did not meet the basic qualification stipulated by the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act.

    He said: “The Principal of Muslim Grammar School, Ede, Mr Khalid Abbas, who purportedly signed the Testimonial, had not been posted to the school as at the date indicated on the document.

    “The principal has denied ever issuing or signing it and the denial is very well on record.”

    Adeleke described the primary poll as “a brotherly and family contest”.

    The PDP flag bearer urged aggrieved aspirants to join hands with him to reclaim the state from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    He urged Ogunbiyi to “come on board” and congratulated him for “his hard-fighting team and for running a good and impressive campaign”.

    Adeleke said: “It was a brotherly contest in our collective strive to redeem our state. It is, therefore, no gainsaying that we are all winners.

    “My emergence as the governorship candidate of our great party marks the beginning of divine liberation of our dear people from repression and oppression.”

    Also, supporters of the Osun State governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, who lost with seven votes to Senator Ademola Adeleke, the winner of the party’s July 22 primary, protested yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital.

    Leading the protesters, Mr. Funso Babarinde, accused Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson-led electoral panel of fraud.

    The protesters claimed that last Saturday’s primary was manipulated in favour of Senator Adeleke.

    Babarinde added that “many of the ballots marked as void votes” were for Ogunbiyi.

    Demanding cancellation of the results announced by the electoral panel, the PDP chieftain claimed that the manipulation robbed Dr. Ogunbiyi of victory.

  • PDP demands justice for slain Lagos chieftain

    Some leaders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos have urged the police to carry out thorough investigation to fish out those responsible for the killing at the party’s meeting at Eti-Osa on Saturday.

    The Secretary of the party, Prince Muiz Dosunmu, made the appeal at a news conference on behalf of the leaders in Lagos yesterday.

    Chief Ola Apena, former Deputy Chairman of the party, and Prince Remi Akitoye, a member of the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT), were among other leaders present at the news conference.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that suspected hoodlums had invaded a meeting of the party at Eti-Osa, killing the Apapa chairman of the party, Mr Adeniyi Aborishade.

    Dosunmu, who condemned the killing, urged the police to ensure the real perpetrators are made to face the law, to ensure justice for the slain victim and others injured in the violence.

    “We demand that the police conduct a thorough, unbiased investigation into this murderous incident.

    “There are several witnesses who watched the gory spectacle and who are willing to identify those who committed the heinous crime.

    “Our peace loving members can also identify the sponsors and collaborators of the premeditated murder and mayhem inflicted on a legal and peaceful gathering.

    “The job of the law enforcement agency is to carry out its investigation with independent vision, disciplined clarity of purpose, with genuine commitment to unravel the truth,” he said.

    The party chieftain urged the police to probe all hidden crevices with professional candour, so as to ensure that justice, fairness and equity prevail.

    Dosunmu said it was surprising that members of the party who went to report the case to the police were the ones detained as suspects.

    According to him, the arrested members should not be detained just because the police want to be seen as doing their job.

    “We demand justice for an innocent man brutally cut down.

    “We demand justice for the innocent members of our party who were inflicted with various injuries.

    “And finally, we demand justice for our people who went to Ilasan Police station to report the crime, but were inexplicably detained and illogically turned to suspects,” he said.

    Dosunmu said the police acted in bad faith with the way it went public to present the PDP as a party where factions were pitted against each other after the incident.

  • PDP NEC constitutes committee to consider name change

    The Peoples  Democratic Party (PDP)  National  Executive  Committee has set up a committee to consider the possibility of changing  the party’s name ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, made the fact known when he briefed  newsmen on the decision  of the emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja on Monday.

    Ologbondiyan  said the step was part of efforts to re-brand and reposition  the party ahead of 2019.

    “The party has immediately  constituted a committee  on harmonisation.

    “The responsibility of the Harmonisation Committee  is to commence  the process of the possibility  of change of name as part  of effort  to re-brand our party and to reposition it for 2019 general elections.

    “So we await the outcome of the Harmonisation Committee. ”

    Ologbondiyan said the party  also approved  the expulsion  of Sen. Buruji Kashamu,  representing  represents Ogun East Senatorial District  in the National  Assembly and three other PDP members in the state.

    He said the others expelled from party in Ogun were Semiu Sodipo,  Bayonne Adebayo and Segun Sheriki.

    Ologbondiyan  explained that  the disciplinary action  was taken against the members for hobnobbing  with the ruling  party, an action considered unacceptable to PDP.

    He warned that with the way PDP had been repositioned,  it would not  accept  untoward behaviour from. members.

    Ologbondiyan  added that the NEC also approved  the decision  of the party National Working Committee (NWC) to go to court over Ekiti governorship election.

    “The legal Committee has been constituted under the party National Legal Adviser to take all issues bordering on the state election to the court.”

    He added that the NEC also considered the issues of the PDP coalescing with 38 other political parties, including the Reformed All Progressives Congresses (RAPC).

    “NEC applauded the  decision  of the party  to work with the grand alliance. The NEC also applauded the infusion of RAPC into PDP.

    “We have been encouraged as members of  NWC to continue  to receive those who are tired  of government  of the day very desirous  of liberating  our nation  from misrule of APC.”

    Ologbonyo  added that the NEC  also approved  the 2019 general elections  timetable  of the party  and released to party members.

    Responding  to question  on how the party intended to manage the return  of defecting  members to the PDP,  Ologbondiyan  said that the party  already  had a template  for that.

    He said that the party  had a percentage of the party structure for elective officers returning to the party.

    Ologbondiyan ,  however, said  the party  leadership would not impose its will on the state structure.

    The PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, earlier said at the opening of the meeting, that the party  would reclaim  its victory  in the just concluded  governorship election in Ekiti.

    Secondus said what happened in Ekiti was a sham and mockery of democracy, which must not be allowed to happen in Osun.

    “Let me assure our teeming supporters that we have all the polling unit results and overwhelming records of electoral

    infractions by the APC, security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) .

    “We will reclaim our mandate in court,” Secondus  said.

    He said that the meeting  was called to review recent happenings in the country and to take critical decisions that would help salvage the country’s democracy.

    He condemned the unending killings across the country, saying “life is no longer worth anything with rivers of blood a constant spectacle.

    “ No day passes without innocent Nigerians being slaughtered in their numbers by killer herdsmen, bandits or Boko Haram.

    “Insecurity has so worsened that people are genuinely scared to travel freely. Yet this was a government that promised to wipe out Boko Haram in a matter of weeks.

    “The lack of political will to rein in the killer herdsmen has left Nigerians and the international community in shock.”

    Secondus  said that the situation in the country demanded that all people of goodwill must join hands to legally vote out the APC government.

    “One thing is clear, Nigeria is heading for disaster and Nigerians

    are looking up to PDP and other democrats to halt the slide. We shall not disappoint them.”(NAN)

  • APC, PDP in war of words over Saraki, Dogara, others

    Senate President: no juicy offers

    We’ll leave APC, says Baraje

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got yesterday a reply to its threat to boycott next year’s elections.

    You are being hunted by your past, All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole told the main opposition party.

    The PDP fired back, saying APC was jittery over coalition between PDP and 38 others.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara and others are believed to be on their way to the PDP, but the APC is urging them to stay.

    Also yesterday, Reformed APC chief Kawu Baraje said the group had decided to leave APC.

    Oshiomhole said the PDP was being haunted by its past treatment of electoral contests as a do-or-die affair, adding that the APC will not be intimidated by any threat of the PDP or any other party as it was committed to the sustenance of democracy and the sanctity of one man, one vote.

    The APC Chairman, who spoke when he received the report of the Osun State governorship primary from the chairman of the primary election panel and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, stressed that if the APC could defeat the PDP while it still held power in 2015, it can repeat the feat now that PDP is out of office and divided.

    The former Labour leader described the move by the PDP as akin to that of “a rabbit jumping out of a hole in the afternoon because a hunter has come to put fire to smoke it out”.

    He said: “Our message to PDP is clear. Your Excellency, you come from the opposition party in the past, I also come from an opposition party and we knew that we didn’t have a rigging machine. The only thing we had was instrument of persuasion, mobilisation, explaining to people, convincing people and aligning with them and understanding that democracy was with the people at the grassroots.

    “But those who have lived on rigging machines, the one we call ward 16, they are based in Abuja and their only access is where electronics and papers exist. Those ones at old age they can’t possibly learn new tricks and they can’t master the dialogue of electioneering, which is why they got stuck in Ekiti and l am sure they would be flat in Osun.”

    Reacting to the threat by the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, who said his party may quit the election over the manipulation of the electoral process, Oshiomhole said: “Let me also use this opportunity to comment on what l read about the PDP chairman. I heard threatening that they may boycott 2019 general elections. When a rabbit in the afternoon jumps out of its hole, not because the hunter has come to smoke it out and it is running, you will know that it has already seen its end.

    “The truth is that we are not desperate; we have worked hard to defeat PDP while they were in power, when they had no faction, when all the founding fathers and founding mothers were in the same house.

    “Nigerian people rejected them on account of 16 years of absolute missrule at the peak of our property as a nation. When oil sold for a $140 per barrel and we came in when oil price had dropped. If with all those huge revenue that accrued to them people complained of bad roads whether from the South to East from the North to the West, they have nothing new to offer to the Nigerian people.

    “I think they are hunted by their own ghost and this is because they had perpetrated a do-or-die politics and they are on records that election matters are do-or-die affairs. One of their old men was recorded as saying that they perfected the language of rigging them out, ‘let them go to court’.

    “Now rigging machines have been dismantled and their problem is how they can survive without it. The glue that held them together, which was cheap money from treasury, again that has been cut off and what they already have, like a typical village sheep, they may chewing it all day all night. Now after three and half years, it almost seems that they have finished all; they have taken and now they are worried.”

    Also yesterday, APC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi said in a statement: “After three years in the wilderness, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is understandably excited with possibility of hiding its irredeemably bad image under the heap of a new coalition.

    “Like the vulture, PDP sees every altercation as a potential opportunity for a feast.  If PDP is not alleging wild conspiracies, they are threatening to boycott elections or announcing fake defections. What is clear with all these is that no matter how long a leopard lives, it cannot change its spots.

    “What President Muhammadu Buhari and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of our Party are doing, persuading every aggrieved member not to leave the party, is what responsible and sensible party leaders would do. Party politics is a game of number. And that game is addition.

    “If the PDP had the same presence of mind in 2015, perhaps the calamity that befell them would have been averted. We challenge the PDP to face Nigerians on their own merit in 2019 and stop shopping around for supporters.”

    Speaking on the Osun primary, Oshiomhole said: “l am very excited that you did a fantastic job, because we decided to try a new method. We needed men and women of integrity, who cannot be compromised, who have the courage and can stand their ground on what they believe in.

    “You can’t influence them, you can’t buy them, you can’t bend; you will either agree to stand by the truth or you fall out and l am glad that you have brought those qualities to bear and the result is that we have a panel which people could not question their integrity. So, l want to thank you for accepting this assignment.

    We accept this report in line with the provisions of our constitution and we have set up in line with our rules an appeal panel because however clean a report appears to be members of our party who may be aggrieved either for the right reasons or for the wrong reasons, they have the right of appeal that our party constitution provides for. So, should there be, any of the aspirants who participated and who has reasons to question the outcome of the election they have the right to file an appeal and they will be heard tomorrow (Sunday). Tomorrow, because that is the last day up to 12 midnight by Monday, we are obliged by INEC rules to submit the name of our candidate and the appeal panel will be chaired by Distinguished Senator Obend Domingo, Dr. Aminu Hameed as secretary and Prof. Hamas Bakori as member. This three-member panel are against gentlemen of proven integrity whom we believe can listen to any appeal arising from exercise and scrutinize the procedures and the reports that have been given, hear people out and recommend to us their finding and after which we will submit the name as appropriate to INEC as provided for under our rules.

    “Let me say that l am happy that from your observation, you believe that over 200, 000 APC members participated in selecting the candidate. What that simply means is that even without any additional efforts, we can be rest assured that those 200, 000 card carrying APC members that participated in full freedom chose the candidate, they would naturally proceed to campaign for them around their neighborhood.

    “l understand that this number could have even be higher, but for the fact that those who have joined us recently, have not been formally registered and their names not included in our data bank.

    “Now we are going to open up to ensure that all those thousands of people who have joined the party across the country enter our register. When we do that, you will find that if those number come out to nominate, they would proceed to ensure that the person wins. I think it is a very positive report…”

    Saraki said last night that the speculations about juicy offers being  made to him and his associates as part of the on-going discussions with the Presidency and leadership of the APC are untrue.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki said reports about promise of money or oil block and nomination tickets are simply reducing a major national issue involving many key actors to that of personal benefits and preferences.

    “I believe at this point, it is important for me to make some clarifications, end speculations and make my position clear. It is important for Nigerians to know that the discussions that I and many others of like minds are having with the Presidency and the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) is not about me and what I want. It involves the future of our country and her democracy. It is about making things better for our people.

    “Though there are many speculations being peddled in the media, let it be known these discussions are not about me. Whatever has happened to me in the past has passed. Now that God in his infinite mercy has vindicated me, I have moved on, believing that we have all learnt our lessons.

    “As I said in my statement following the Supreme Court Judgement on July 6, I cannot hold any grudge against any individual. I have forgiven all those who played any role in my persecution and likewise, I have asked for forgiveness from all those that I wronged in the past. Our focus should now be about Nigeria. The major issue on the table for discussion is how to strengthen our democracy, rebuild our economy, stop the spate of insecurity, improve the conditions of living of our people and generally chart a course for the development of this great country.

    “We will be insulting Nigerians if, as the 2019 elections draw nearer, our deliberations is about personal benefits or how to pay compensation for wrongs done to an individual,” Saraki said.

     

     

  • APC jittery over mega coalition, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as jittery over the mega coalition between the PDP and 38 other political interests.

    PDP National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan said this is the reason for the attack on it by National Chairman of the APC Adams Oshiomhole.

    The opposition party said Oshiomhole’s resort to insults betrayed the confusion of a “depressed politician.”

    The statement said: “The PDP holds nothing but pity for Oshiomhole who is going around cap in hand and begging the same compatriots who he earlier called names like ‘inconsequential’, ‘hungry birds’ and ‘tired feet’, not to leave his sinking party.

    What Oshiomhole and President Buhari, in their fantasy trip, fail to understand is that those they seek to draw into the cave are already aware of the story of the sick lion and that all animals, that went visiting never returned. They know that the tiger does not offer his back for a ride without a price

    “Very soon, Oshiomhole and President Buhari would find themselves alone in the cursed ‘Black Pearl’ that the APC has irredeemably become.

    “While we understand Oshiomhole’s frustration over his inability to stop the coalition, the fact remains that he and President Buhari are fighting a lost battle in trying to destroy it.

     

  • PDP ‘begs’ Akpabio not to join APC

    There are indications that former Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, may soon join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is said to be making concerted effort not to lose him, it was learnt yesterday.

    Akpabio is said to have fallen out with his successor Governor Udom Emmanuel.

    The development appears to be a confirmation of Akpabio’s statement that “all is not well” when he met with stakeholders in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.

    A source said the PDP National Working Committee led by the National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, was locked in a marathon meeting with Akpabio in his Asokoro Abuja home at the weekend.

    The meeting is believed to be a last minute effort by the opposition party to stop the Senator’s possible decampment to the ruling party.

    Akpabio is said to be unhappy with the governor for his unwillingness to open the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Ikot Ekpene which Akpabio was said to have built and furnished.

    Emmanuel is also said to have failed to complete a portion of the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road.

    Akpabio had hinted at a mega rally held at Ikot Ekpene to endorse him and Emmanuel for second terms that a political party is just a vehicle for winning election.

    He also reportedly said that whichever party he decided to pitch his tent with in the 2019 elections, he would emerge a winner to continue to deliver dividends of democracy to his people.

    This has been widely perceived by political watchers as an imminent plan by Akpabio to decamp to another political party.

    A former Deputy Governor Chief Chris Ekpenyong, who chaired the rally, had also reportedly told Emmanuel that all was not well in the Senatorial District.

    Ekpenyong is said to have urged the governor to replicate the good roads and industries he has built in his Onna community to other parts of the state, as what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

    The issue was said to have cropped when at the APC mega rally in Ikot Ekpene Township Stadium where Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Managing Director Obong Nsima Ekere reportedly faulted the governor for abandoning the people of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District by refusing to open the hotel and complete the road.

    Observers are said to have wondered why Emmanuel had allowed the Sheraton by Four Points Hotel and the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road issues to linger.

    Political analysts have asked what it would have cost the administration to open a hotel that had virtually been completed instead of leaving it to rot.

    Sources pointed that even though Akpabio’s predecessor, Obong Victor Attah pitched his tent with his son-in-law Dr Udoma Ekarika rather than supporting Akpabio, he (Akpabio) still built a dualised road complete with the most modern street lights to Attah’s home.

    Unconfirmed reports say the end-of-tenure entitlements of Akpabio’s political appointees were yet to be paid simply because they are “Akpabio Boys.”

    When contacted, Akpabio’s media aide Jackson Udom said he was not aware of any move by his principal to dump the PDP.

    “Senator Akpabio as far as I know is a strong member and leader of the PDP. He is the Minority Leader of the party in the Senate,” Udom added.

  • PDP summons governors, NEC members over merger, defection

    •Stakeholders reject change of name

    THE People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will today meet members of its Board of Trustees (BOT) and the National Executive Committee (NEC) on the party’s prospects in 2019 and the possibility of entering into alliances.

    Those expected for the talks are governors, former presidents, former vice presidents, ex-governors, Deputy Presidents of the Senate, ex-Speakers and ex-Deputy Speakers of the House of Representatives and principal officers in the National Assembly elected on the PDP platform.

    The meetings will focus on some issues, including the defection talks with Senate President Bukola Saraki, House Speaker Yakubu Dogara and others.

    The others include Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto), Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Governor Samuel Ortom, ex-Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, many senators and members of the House of Representatives, mostly in Reformed-All Progressives Congress(R-APC) and other defectors.

    It is the first time the party’s leadership will brief all its organs on what it has been doing ahead of the 2019 elections.

    There was tension last night over plans to arm-twist the organs to succumb to pressure to change the party’s name.

    Many members of the national Caucus, BOT and NEC were opposed to a change of name proposal, which is being promoted by those defecting from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    It was learnt that today’s meetings were preceded by a session of the party’s national caucus yesterday night.

    On the agenda were: merger MOU with 38 parties; details of negotiation with defectors, demand for change of name by defectors, how talks will alter party structure at state level, report of Liyel Imoke Contact and Moblisation Committee, defining involvement in coalition with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), parties, and other groups ahead of 2019 poll, inputs from stakeholders and fallout of Ekiti governorship election.

    As at press time, however, the controversial matter on the agenda was said to be plans by some PDP leaders to force the party to change its name.

    It was gathered that the change of name was one of the conditions given by PDP some of the influential defectors.

    While a few leaders were said to be buying into the idea of a name change, many members of the BOT and NEC have rejected it.

    A former governor said: “We have told the party to be circumspect because some of those defecting and insisting on change of name have a hidden agenda. They want to kill PDP technically in order to co-own the new party, which will emerge.”

    A member of the NWC said: “Change of name is a booby trap. Why will those rejoining our party be dictating to us. They need us more than we need them.  If change of name is their problem, let them remain where they are.”

    A governor said: “I think we have gone past the issue of change of name. To me, it is dead on arrival. Those who are uncomfortable with PDP should find shelter elsewhere. I don’t think the party will revisit this matter again.”

    PDP National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan said: “We are meeting all the organs on all issues, including the MOU with parties, defection by some political leaders to our party, among others. The consultation has started with the national caucus on yesterday night. We will meet with BOT and NEC members on Monday (today).”