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Tag: PDP

  • Protest unfortunate, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described as unfortunate the street protest by police officers on duty in troubled Borno State, over unpaid allowances.

    In a statement on Monday signed by the spokesman of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said the incident was an ugly epitaph of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.

    According to party, the development was a confirmation that the administration has not been committed to providing security for the troubled states, despite huge resources at its disposal, but has only been paying lip service and giving false assurances to the people.

    The statement said, “Is it not disconcerting that policemen, who daily risk their lives at the fronts, are denied their allowances for months; left unaccommodated, without basic needs and kept forlorn in the face of battle, while their commander-in-chief and top officers enjoy the comfort of their huge offices in Abuja, from where they grandstand about their non-existent commitment to security?

    “Nigerians can now see that this administration is overtly deceitful, thrives on propaganda, lies, false claims and is never committed to the good of the people even as it blames everyone else for its failures.

    “The PDP strongly believes that the situation is more than has met the eyes. We therefore demand an urgent investigation to get to the root of this pathetic situation and stress that findings of such investigations must be made public.

    “Finally, while we urge the aggrieved policemen to exercise restrain, we charge the police high command to ensure their immediate payment and do all to restore the morale of all our men at the front”.

  • PDP, APC overheating Ekiti ahead of poll, says SDP

    The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ekiti State, Mr Akinloye Ayegbusi, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of overheating the state ahead of the July 14 governorship election.

    The SDP candidate alleged that the two parties have been locked in a war of attrition and raising false accusations and counter-accusations instead of telling the electorate what they have in stock for them.

    Ayegbusi urged the APC and the PDP to stop dragging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into their messy war, and face their campaigns.

    Ayegbusi who spoke this as the ward-to-ward campaign of the SDP moved to communities in Ekiti East Local Government Area, said he is seeking the mandate to serve the people.

    He said he threw his hat into the  ring to help to liberate the people from poverty and untold hardship occasioned by the misrule of the APC and the PDP administrations.

    Some of the communities the campaign team of SDP visited included Omuo, Isinbode and Ilasa.

    The first point of call was Isinbode where the SDP candidate paid homage to the monarch, the Onisin, Oba Emmanuel Adeyemi. He appealed to the royal father to support the SDP for the much desired dividend of democracy to reach the community.

    He charged the people of the area to think of their future before casting  their votes, noting that their future lies in the SDP government which will bring back prosperity to Ekiti State. The Onisin later prayed for Ayegbusi success at the coming poll. He urged his followers to embrace peace before and during the election.

  • Ekiti people will resist rigging of guber poll – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday warned that the Ekiti people would resist attempts by anybody or group to rig the state’s governorship election slated for July 14.

    In a statement issued by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies against attempts to toy with the will of Ekiti people.

    The statement read: “PDP restates that the will of the people is stronger than the machinations of evil-minded persons, who are toying with the determination of the people for a free and fair electioneering.

    “The party warns that INEC officials working with agents of the APC to compromise the process are brazenly risking the legitimate wrath of the people of Ekiti State in their iron-cast resolve to ensure that nobody subverts their will in this election.

    “The people of Ekiti State are already aware of the clandestine meetings between known INEC officials and APC agents, including those held at the Ondo State Government House in Akure, where plots were hatched to use INEC’s ICT Department to preload card readers and input false results, as well as cloning unclaimed Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) to superimpose pictures of their members from other states.

    “The PDP cautions these compromised INEC officers, their allies in the APC and those they planned to import from other states, to note that their tracks and footprints are all bare and that the people of Ekiti State are already at alert and ready to stop them on their trails with every potency available to them under the law.

    “What the APC and their cohorts in INEC fail to note is that Ekiti is a contiguous state where every indigene and residents know and can identify one another other as individuals and families and that as such there is no way in which strangers imported from other states can be allowed to sneak in and participate in their election.

    “Let it be known to all that the PDP is fully mobilized for the July 14 election. The people of Ekiti State are fully rallied to vigilance at every polling unit, every collation center as well as every exit and entry points in their respective areas across the state to ensure that nobody subverts their collective will.

    “We restate the fact, clearly known both to INEC and the APC, that Ekiti State is a stronghold of the PDP and that the people are solidly behind the PDP, particularly due to the sterling performance of Governor Ayo Fayose in developing the state in all spheres of lives.

    “The APC and their rejected candidate should therefore end their desperation to forcefully take over the state as no amount of machination, intimidation, threats or even arrests and detention can subjugate the people of Ekiti State, on any score, let alone, on their governorship election.”

  • Police protest unfortunate – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday described as unfortunate the protest over unpaid allowances by police officers in Borno State.

    In a statement signed by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said the incident was an ugly epitaph of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    According to PDP, the development was a confirmation that the administration has not been committed to providing security for the troubled states, despite huge resources at its disposal.

    The statement said: “Is it not disconcerting that policemen, who daily risk their lives at the fronts, are denied their allowances for months; left unaccommodated, without basic needs and kept forlorn in the face of battle, while their commander-in-chief and top officers enjoy the comfort of their huge offices in Abuja, from where they grandstand about their non-existent commitment to security?

    “Nigerians can now see that this administration is overtly deceitful, thrives on propaganda, lies, false claims and is never committed to the good of the people even as it blames everyone else for its failures.

    “The PDP strongly believes that the situation is more than has met the eyes. We therefore demand an urgent investigation to get to the root of this pathetic situation and stress that findings of such investigations must be made public.

    “Finally, while we urge the aggrieved policemen to exercise restrain, we charge the police high command to ensure the immediate payment of the allowances and do all to restore the morale of all our men at the front.”

  • PDP loses more members to APC

    The  fortunes of the Peoples Democratc Party (PDP) in Ekiti State further dipped yesterrday, when more members of the party from Eyio, Esure and Iropora in Irepodun/Ifelodun defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    No fewer than 400 members, who are supporters of Prince Dayo Adeyeye on the platform of  Adeyeye Movement (PAAM), dumped the party for the APC.

    A chieftain,  Ayodele Matthew, led the defectors from Esure-Ekiti. Adeyeye Ajibola led defectors from  Iropora. Ogunsakin Sunday led defectors from  from Eyio-Ekiti.

    Former Special Adviser on Political Matters and Governor Ayodele Fayose’s associate, Ademola Bello, urged the new members to feel safe in APC, adding that the party will accommodate them without any discrimination.

    He said the APC governorship candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi, is a man of honour who always likes to make a mark in the lives of the people without conditions.

    He urged the defectors to return to their units to work for the success of the party in the July 14 governorship poll.

    Ayodele, Ajibola and Ogunsakin explained that they left PDP because Fayose had turned the party into a private property for personal pleasure.

    They said their leader, Adeyeye, is a man of honour worthy of their trust and confidence. Besides, they said, they had assessed recent developments in the  PDP and found out that they were enslaved by the governor.

    According to the defectors, those who were threats to the APC are now ready to work for its victory at the poll, following the gale of defections.

     

  • FG slams PDP over infrastructural development in South East, South South

    Information and Culture Minister  Lai Mohammed, has challenged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to present its scorecard of achievements, especially in the area of infrastructural development, in the South-East and the South-South in its 16 years in office.

    The Minister  threw the challenge while inspecting ongoing construction of the Enugu/ Port Harcourt Expressway on Thursday.

    He said it is disheartening that some politicians have made it their pastime to criticize the current administration for allegedly neglecting the two regions without any verifiable proof.

    “I’m particularly glad that we came on this trip for two reasons. I think it has given the lie to those naysayers, who have painted the administration as having done nothing for the South-East and the South-South,” he said.

    “When we were coming on this (third) stretch of the road, I was informed that until this administration came, an entire lane was completely impassable after it was turned to a refuse dump. Now the question is: In 16 years, what did the PDP do on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Road?

    ‘’Everything that we saw (along the Enugu-Port Harcourt road) today is what this administration has achieved, yet some politicians are so fraudulent. They sit in Abuja and accuse the administration of doing nothing for the South-East and the South-South.”

    Alhaji Mohammed said the intervention of the present administration in the provision of infrastructure in the South-East, in particular, has exposed the PDP for deceiving the people of the region for the 16 years it was in power without anything to show.

    ‘’From what you have seen yesterday and today, you will see that this administration has done so much for this zone. We can now see that some people are just misinforming the public. I am glad that from the feedback we are getting, the people in the South-East know what is going on because they know what was going on for 16 years and are also here in the last three years and they have seen the difference,” he said.

    The Minister gave the assurance that the federal government will remain focused on completing inherited projects across the country.

    “The most important thing is that this government has been faithful, sincere, passionate and committed towards infrastructural development.  What we are doing has never been done in almost 16 to 20 years at least along this axis,” he said.

    The minister, who is currently on a nationwide media tour of federal  government infrastructural projects, had earlier inspected ongoing work at the Second Niger Bridge, where he expressed satisfaction with the pace of work.

     

  • N500m fraud: Ondo PDP Chair remanded in prison

    A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Friday remanded the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in Ondo State, Clement Faboyede, and the party’s campaign director-general during the 2015 general election, Modupe Adetokunbo.

    Justice Saliu Saidu remanded both men in prison following their arraignment for allegedly receiving and laundering N500 million in the build-up to the 2015 general election.

    The duo were brought before the judge on a three-count charge of conspiracy and money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    EFCC counsel, Mr. Ekene Iheanacho, told the judge that Faboyede, Adetokunbo and others at large committed the offences on or about the March 27, 2015.
    Iheanacho alleged that they conspired to accept cash payment in the sum of N500m from one Owolanke Micheal which exceeded the N5 million threshold for which one need not go through a financial institution.

    In count three of the charge, marked FHC/ L/201C/2018, the anti-graft agency alleged that Faboyede, on March 27, 2015, paid the N500m to the PDP Ondo State Election Committee, without going through a financial institution.

    According to the prosecutor, the offences contravened Section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act 1 of 2012) and was punishable under Section 16(2) of the same Act.

    Read Also: EFCC arraigns ex minister, four others over money laundering

    Both defendants pleaded not guilty.

    Iheanacho prayed the court to remand them in prison and fix a trial date.

    This was opposed by defence counsel, Mr Eyitayo Jegede SAN, who made an oral application for their bail.

    But Justice Saidu directed Jegede to apply for their bail in writing.

    Responding, Jegede informed the court that he had filed a formal bail application but it had yet to reach the court’s file.

    Nevertheless, the judge remanded both defendants in prison custody pending when their bail applications will be entertained, and adjourned till September 17, for trial.

  • APC convention: PDP crying wolf, says APC

    •Ndoma-Egba urges opposition party to go to court

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that the allegation of improper conduct of its just-concluded national convention by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was like a prostitute preaching morality.

    It said the main opposition was afraid of the emergence of Adams Oshiomhole as its national chairman.

    A statement issued by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party was wondering which position the PDP leaders contested for at the ruling party’s convention, which entitles them to take it upon themselves to challenge the process that produced APC leaders.

    Also, the APC National Convention Committee asked the PDP to go to court or write a petition to the Elections Appeals Committee of the party, which is presently sitting if they are not satisfied with the process.

    Responding to a statement credited to the PDP asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to nullify Oshiomhole’s election as it violates the provisions of the Electoral Act, the APC said the PDP was displaying a gross misunderstanding of the provisions of the law.

    The statement reads: “We read with dismay, but without surprise, the statement released by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to annul the results of the highly-successful National Convention of our party held last Saturday June 23.

    “We imagine the utter shock and disappointment the dying opposition party must have felt to see that their prediction of collapse for our party ahead of the convention did not come to pass. Unable to recover from the shock, they now indulge in ignorant whimper, calling on INEC to help them do what they are best at doing; annulling elections.

    “It is quite distressing to see that a party that held power for 16 years did not know that INEC has no role in internal elections of a political party. We also wonder which position the PDP contested for at our convention which entitles them to take it upon themselves to challenge the process.

    “If the PDP now sees itself as an interested party in our internal elections, we would encourage them to send their petitions to the Convention Appeals Committee of our party. We, however, do not expect them to understand this process of internal democracy.

    “It is clear to everyone that having been kicked out of power, the PDP still has no idea what to do three years after. However, playing the busybody and so openly advertising their ignorance of basic electoral rules will make it even more difficult for Nigerians to grant them the forgiveness that they have begged for.

    “What is PDP’s grouse? That INEC should not recognise the new APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, as his emergence by affirmation is according to the PDP in violation of democratic requirements of direct voting by delegates.

    “Our election guidelines provide that all party posts prescribed by the party constitution can be filled by democratically conducted elections or by Consensus, provided that where a candidate has emerged by Consensus for an elective position, a vote of “Yes” or “No” is called to ensure that it was not an imposition.

    “This was clearly adhered to in many positions, including the National Chairmanship position which was unopposed. But we understand PDP’s problem. They are terrified by Comrade Adams Oshiomole.”

    Speaking with reporters on the outcome of the convention, Secretary to the Convention Planning Committee Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba said: “Their response is a response of somebody who got an outcome that they did not anticipate. The opposition party was expecting an implosion, which did not happen. So, they are now looking at shrubs.

    “The party’s constitution is very clear and the Electoral Act is very clear. When the national chairman was announced unopposed, the question was put to the convention and so, we believe that we satisfied every legal requirement.”

    On the position of the Electoral Act on the elections, he said the Act provides that “you can vote or you can affirm and the APC constitution also said that”.

    Reminded that the provision of the Electoral Act stipulates that there must be a ballot of yes or no, he said: “That is not my understanding of that provision. But I don’t want us to get into legal argument here. Anyone who has any issue should go to court.”

  • PDP shedding crocodile tears over Plateau killings – Presidency

    The Presidency on Thursday said that the sad and unfortunate killings in Plateau State over the weekend is been used to play irresponsible politics, particularly by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The PDP has declared seven days of mourning.over the killings.

    A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, said “These are dolorous times that call for deep introspection on how cheap human lives have become, and the proffering of actionable ideas on how to get out of the bind. But the PDP would rather dance on the graves of the dead, playing cheap, infantile politics.

    “The comatose and prostrate party is declaring seven days of mourning, during which flags in its offices would be flown at half mast nationwide. But unknown to the party, those flags had been forcefully lowered since its 2015 loss at the polls, and may remain so for a long time to come, because Nigerians are politically discerning, and cannot be hoodwinked by cheap antics.

    “A quick checklist of some savage and brutal killings in Nigeria during PDP rule, between 1999 and 2015, for which no national mourning was declared:

    “November 20, 1999. Odi, in Bayelsa State, was invaded on orders of a PDP President. About 2,500 people killed. No national mourning.

    “Between February and May, 2000, about 5,000 people were killed during riots over Sharia law in different parts of the North. No national mourning.

    “In 2001, hundreds of people, including the old, infirm, women and children were killed in Zaki Biam. No crocodile tears.

    “Between September 7-12, 2001, Jos, Plateau State, erupted in internecine killings. Between 500 and 1,000 people were killed. Flags were not flown at half mast.

    “In February, 2004, at least 975 people were killed in Yelwa-Shendam, Plateau State. No mourning by the then ruling PDP.

    “Between November 28 and 29, 2008, Jos was in flames again, with 381 deaths. No mourning.

    “In 2010, 992 people killed in Jos. Mum was the word.

    Read Also: Plateau Killings: Residents on guard against attack

    “In 2014 alone, according to Global Terrorism Index, at least 1,229 people were killed in the Middle Belt. No mourning.” he said

    Boko Haram killings in PDP years, he said, were over 10,000 while PDP flags were still fluttering proudly in the sky.

    He added “Those who take pleasure in twisting statements from the Presidency may claim we are saying that many more people were killed under PDP than under President Muhammadu Buhari. It would be unconscionable to do so.

    “The intendment of this statement is to show that wanton killings had been with us for awhile; this government is working towards enduring solutions; and should be given the opportunity to do so.

    “Even a single soul is precious, and no man should take a life, which he cannot create. But when tragic situations as had happened in Plateau State occur, such should never be used to play crude politics. Those who wont to do so should have change of hearts, or lose their very humanity.” he said.

  • PDP declares seven days of mourning

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday declared seven days of mourning for the victims of the killings of innocent Nigerians by marauders and bandits in Plateau state and other parts of the country

    It directed that its flags at all its offices across the country be flown at half-mast during the period in honour of the victims.

    The PDP urged the people of Plateau state to exercise their rights as global citizens, work with other public-spirited Nigerians and groups and take President Muhammadu Buhari and his government to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague for acting helpless in the face of continuous mass killings in our country.