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Tag: PDP

  • Abiola would have been a PDP member if he was alive

    Winner of the June 12 presidential election, Late Chief M.K.O Abiola would have been a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if he were to be alive today because he epitomized the democratic ideals of the party.

    This is the position of the Special Adviser to the Governor of Akwa Ibom State on Political and Legislative Affairs, Mr. Ekong Sampson who spoke on Thursday during a Planet FM interview programme, “Politics Today” monitored by our correspondent in Uyo.

    Governor Emmanuel’s aide said that Chief Abiola committed much of his wealth towards the prosperity of Nigerians through sports, building bridges across ethnic and religious divides and paying huge sacrifices for the benefit of Nigerians.

    In his words, “the essential character in June 12 is the bridge building component of that struggle. I can say clearly that if Chief Abiola were to be alive today, he would be campaigning for the PDP because PDP represents what Abiola lived and fought for.

    The Akwa Ibom political mogul said June 12 has become a rallying cry and a signature that impunity cannot last forever, adding that June 12 should be a defining metaphor for 2019.

    Read Also: June 12: A parley with MKO Abiola

    “As we immortalize Chief Abiola we must learn lessons from the undercurrents that drive his imprint in history and defend what drove their essence. We must be able to protect the character of their struggles and, to me, the character of that struggle is embedded in the principles of democracy; that the wish of the people must be respected,” Ekong Sampson stated.

    Furthermore, “we must show that we believe in the ideals that drive June 12 and to me the bigger picture is the bridge building narrative because June 12 brought Nigeria together across the religious, ethnic and other narrow considerations. That is the Nigeria of our dream,” Sampson said.

    Sampson likened Governor Udom Emmanuel to Chief M.K.O. Abiola in bridge building.

    “I got to know Chief Abiola in my early years as a sports writer. Abiola gave humanity respect, not really minding where a person came from. Udom Emmanuel, likewise, believes humanity must be protected and that is why the State government attaches a lot of premium to health care delivery, spending a lot of money and time to make sure our people get the best medical attention,” Sampson said.

  • Mimiko dumps PDP

    Barely four years after the former Ondo state governor,Dr Olusegun Mimiko and his supporters dumped the Labour Party(LP) for the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP),the medical doctor turned politicians and his supporters will today return to the Labour Party(LP).

    Mimiko will visit his ward seven in Ondo West local government where he will collect the LP’s membership card.

    He aligned with the PDP shortly before the Presidential election which was eventually won by President Muhammadu Buhari under the platform of the All Progressives Congress(APC).

    The former governor who had a brief media parley with reporters in Ondo town has officially tendered his letter of resignation from the PDP.

    The letter reads” I hereby with utmost humility inform you of my decision to resign my membership of the PDP with effect from today, June 13, 2018 for some well thought-out personal reasons.

    “It was an honour working with many prominent Nigerians whom I shared the PDP platform for the entire period I was there as a member .

    “Accept please the assurance of my very high regards”.

    Mimiko used the platform of the LP in 2007 to dislodge late governor Olusegun Agagu after winning Appeal Court Verdict held in Benin-city,Edo state capital.

    According to him,” I am conscious of my political history and determine to embrace new ideology”.

    He pointed out that politics is about choices,stressing that God has the way of every step of human beings in life.

    The former governor appreciated for his political exploits as Commissioner,Secretary to the State Government(SSG) Minister,and two term Governor,stressing that his decision to move to the LP would be value-added.

    He however hinged his exit from PDP simply to ‘comprehensive frustration’.

    The state chairman of PDP,Clement Faboyede who served as Commissioner for Community Development and Cooperative Services under Mimiko’s administration said his exit would not derail the major opposition party.

    According to him,the PDP leadership in the state and other stakeholders had done their best to change Mimiko’s mind to remain in the party,but all efforts proved futile.

  • Updated: Court sacks Aidoko as Kogi East Senator

    ……..awarded N1.5M against Aidoko and PDP respectively

     

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Wednesday sacked a Senator representing Kogi East Senatorial district of the People’s Democratic Party Senator Atai Aidoko.

    The court also ordered the clerk of the National Assembly to withdraw all privileges being accorded to Aidoko.

    In his judgement the court held that Aidoko was not property nominated by the PDP for the March 2015 election.

    He also ordered the immediate swearing of Air Marshall Isaac Alfa by the clerk of the National Assembly of the PDP.

    He said;”I hearby order the clerk of the National Assembly to swear in AVM Alfa as the newly elected Kogi East to immediately replace Aidoko

    ”The plantiff has proved that the result of the primary election which he produced are genuine and he scored the highest number of votes in the election”The judge held.

    The court also ordered the electoral empire to issue a fresh certificate of return to Alfa being the winner of the December 7 2014 PDP primaries into the National Assembly election.

    However the court awarded a cost of N1.5M against PDP and Senator Aidoko respectively.

    The trial judge also condemned the ways and manner in which the PDP subverted the result of the primaries held that rogue documents were used by the PDP to submit Senator Aidoko’s name to INEC.

    The purported nomination of Aidoko by PDP to INEC was an exercise in futility to rob the plaintiff the fruit of his election in the primary.

    While delivering his judgement Justice Kolawole said that from the totality of the evidence placed before the court, it was clear that Sheidu Idoma was the Returning Officer for the Senatorial election and not Umar Sanusi, and that this was corroborated by key witnesses in their statements made on oath

    The judge also said the fact that the sacked senator refused to call his agent at the primary election, Mallam Farouk Adejo, left a credibility gap on the side of Aidoko.

    Earlier, Justice Kolawole had dismissed the preliminary objection by Aidoko challenging jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter.

    He described the preliminary objection as an abuse of court process employed by Aidoko to delay the trial.

    He held that the challenge of the court’s jurisdiction was an abuse of court process because it had earlier been resolved both at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme court against the senator.

  • PDP denies endorsing a presidential aspirant

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) on Monday denied reports that key leaders of the party had endorsed one of its presidential aspirants as candidate for the 2019 elections.

    The party made the denial in a statement issued by its National Organising Secretary, Col. Austin Akobundu (retd) in Abuja.

    Akobundu said that the reports were calculated to create confusion in the party, adding that the party’s ticket was opened for contest.

    He explained that at no time did leadership or any group in the party endorsed any aspirant for the presidential election, saying that nothing could be farther from the truth.

    “It is calculated to create confusion,” Akobundu said and reminded Nigerians that the Uche Secondus led- National Working Committee of the party had repeatedly made it clear that party congresses would be free, fair and transparent.

    According to him, the rebranded PDP has no room for impunity and imposition of candidates.

    He explained that the transparent primaries conducted in Ekiti state in May was a testimony to the fact that PDP was determined to pursue rule-driven processes.

    Akobundu assured party members, particularly presidential aspirants and their supporters, that the contest would be open and transparent, and that Nigerians would be happy at the outcome.

  • Posthumous Award: PDP supports Abiola’s honour

    The Peoples  Democratic Party (PDP) said it fully supported any honour done by Nigeria to the memory of acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, late Chief MKO Abiola.

     

    The party said this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, on Sunday in Abuja.

     

    The party, however, said it rejected the inclination by President Muhammadu Buhari to use the award to posture as a democrat and desperately seeking to garner votes ahead of 2019 presidential election.

     

    It noted that bestowing a posthumous national award on Abiola did not make Buhari a democrat.

     

    “Chief Abiola, in his life time, stood for personal liberty of citizens, particularly the right to aspire for any position, respect for constitutional order and principle of separation of powers.

     

    “He also stood for national cohesion as well as a free press, all of which were upheld by the PDP.”

     

    The party said that it was, however, a fact that the freedoms were being trampled and strangulated.

     

    “While the PDP congratulates the family of late Chief Abiola and other martyrs of democracy, we also remember the roles of late Sen. Abraham Adesanya, Bagauda Khalto, Dan Suleiman, Raph Obiorah, Alex  Ibru and others.

     

    “We remember the Management and Staff of the Concord, Guardian, Vanguard, Punch and other media houses, who suffered undue hardships for our nation to attain this democracy.”

     

    It urged the Presidency to save the nation international opprobrium of attempting to use the event for “political capital’’ and to posture Buhari as a democrat.

     

    Also in a separate statement, the PDP commended the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly for their resilience in enhancing the country’s democratic practice as consolidated by successive PDP administrations.

     

    It commended the legislature for the successful amendment of the country’s Constitution

     

    It advised the Presidency not to appropriate the achievements of the National Assembly as those of President Muhammadu Buhari.

     

    The party decried the recent attempt by the Presidency to ascribe credit to President for the recent amendments to the Constitution, particularly the granting of financial autonomy to state house of assembly and the judiciary.

     

    According to it, neither the Presidency nor the President himself made any input in support of the amendments.

     

    “It is instructive to note that none of the amendments stem from any Executive bill. (NAN)

  • Alleged plot to arrest Obasanjo worries PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday expressed worry over allegation by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, accusing the Federal Government of plotting to arrest him on trumped up charges.

    Obasanjo, who raised the alarm in a statement issued by his spokesman, Kehinde Akinyemi, cited his persistent criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as reason for his travail.

    The PDP, in a statement issued by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, few hours after Obasanjo raised the alarm, said the revelation coming from a man of Obasanjo’s status, was terrifying.

    According to PDP, the development has heightened tension in the polity and confirmed the party’s fears that the nation has descended into a police state where any Nigerian, who holds a divergent view to President Buhari’s 2019 re-election bid, becomes endangered.

    The party said: “The alarm by Chief Obasanjo has further shown that the PDP has not been crying wolf regarding the plots by the Federal Government to frame, arrest, detain and arraign political opponents of the APC, including regular Nigerians, for holding or canvasing opinions that are divergent to the interest of those in power.

    “We invite Nigerians to note the travails faced by perceived opponents of the Buhari Presidency, including Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Senators Shehu Sani and Dino Melaye, who had raised similar alarms in the past.

    “The PDP urges Nigerians to note how APC controlled security forces, on Wednesday, arrested and detained opposition members in Ogun State, including a member of the House of Assembly, Hon Adebiyi Adeleye, who were going about their legitimate activities, only to tag them as cultists.”

    The party condemned what it described as APC’s resort to persecution, intimidation, harassment and framing of its members and other dissenting voices.

    It added that the government’s action was aimed at suppressing the opposition ahead of the 2019 elections.

    “PDP wants the APC and the Buhari Presidency to note that no amount of coercion, intimidation and illegal arrests will alter the determination of Nigerians to vote out the dysfunctional APC and rescue our nation from the shackles of the Buhari Presidency and its misrule, come 2019,” the party added.

  • It is hypocitical, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dscribed the Presidential action on Chief MKO Abiola and the receognitionof June 12 as Democracy Day as smacking of hypocrisy and political desperation.

    It said President Buhari’s action merely sought to use the name and person of Abiola to gain a political capital and not out of genuine reverence and recognition for him.

    PDP spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan said President Buhari, who was serving in the military administration of General Sani Abacha during the travails of Abiola, did not associate either by words or actions with the presumed winner of June 12 election.

    Ologbondiyan said history did not record President Buha as sympathetic to the Abiola’s family when his wife, Kudirat, was gruesomely murdered by the agents of the Abacha government.

    He said, “It is, therefore, a sign of political desperation for President Buhari to seek to use Chief Abiola’s name as a tool to sway Nigerians in less than 12 months to an election where he, (President Buhari) is seeking a second term.

  • PDP chieftain, lawmaker hail Buhari for declaring June 12 Democracy Day

    A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for declaring June 12 as a new Democracy Day and posthumously awarding Chief MKO Abiola, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).

    The President  who announced this on Wednesday in a statement signed personally, said that June 12 would now replace May 29 as the Democracy Day.

    Abiola, who was the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, died on July 7, 1998.

    Babatope, a former Minister of Transport and member PDP Board of Trustees, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on phone that the president’s motivation was right.

    “Even though one may question the timing, the motivation is right.

    “We should commend Buhari for the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day and the conferment of GCFR on the late MKO Abiola,” he said.

    Also  Mr Wasiu Eshinokun-Sanni, the Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, said that the truth had prevailed.

    Eshinokun-Sanni, who noted that he received the news with a mixed feeling, commended the Lagos State Government to have recognised Abiola and Chief Gani Fawehinmi, a late human rights lawyer.

    “The good part is that effort of Nigerians in forgetting religious and tribal sentiments as exhibited by the June 12 elections is not in vain. June 12 is Democracy Day is also symbolic.

    “What Obasanjo (former President) failed to recognise all this while in spite being the greatest beneficiary of June 12, a Nigerian of northern extraction has brought it to the front burner,” he said.

    “Accordingly, after due consultations, the Federal Government has decided that henceforth, June 12 will be celebrated as the Democracy Day.

    ” Therefore, government has decided to award posthumously, the highest honour of the land, GCFR to late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 cancelled election.

    “His running mate as Vice President Amb. Baba Gana Kingibe is also to be invested with a GCON.

    “Furthermore, the tireless fighter for human rights and the actualisation of June 12 elections and indeed for democracy in general, the Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN, is to be awarded posthumously a GCON.

    “The commemoration and investiture will take place on Tuesday June 12, a date which in future years will replace May 29 as a National Public Holiday in celebration of the Nigerian Democracy.” (NAN)

  • PDP cautions INEC over Ekiti, Osun polls

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against fueling trouble in the upcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States.

    This followed allegation by the main opposition party that INEC had secretly recruited 4,000 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as independent observers for the July 14 and September 22 governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States respectively.

    In a statement issued on Tuesday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said the electorate in Ekiti and Osun were already aware of the plots to use the alleged illegal observers to manipulate the electoral process in the two states.

    According to the PDP, the plot is for the “observers” to endorse irregularities, approve fictitious results and subvert the will of the electorate in favour of the APC.

    Vowing to resist such impunity, the party demanded the immediate withdrawal of the 4,000 “observers” by INEC in the interest of the country and its democracy.

    The statement said: “INEC, in this design, should not forget that these states are immutable strongholds of the PDP; that the citizens are politically sophisticated and will in no way hesitate to confront, with all energy available in a democracy, any attempt by anybody to sabotage the election.

    “It is an incontrovertible fact that the PDP has the largest demography of genuine followership and unprecedented mass appeal across Ekiti State, particularly due to the sterling performance of Governor Ayo Fayose. We also have the most popular candidate in this election and the direction of the political tide is clear to all.

    “In this regard, the national leadership of the PDP states in very clear terms that our structures across all the electoral wards in Ekiti and Osun States have been put at alert, as we will not allow anybody to use any means whatsoever to manipulate the electoral process.

    “The PDP therefore issues this as a direct caution to these illegal observers to steer clear of Ekiti and Osun States and also to desist from testing the will of the people as they will in no way stomach any attempt by anybody to subvert their will at the polls.

    “On this note, we charge the INEC Chairman to immediately douse the tension by instantly withdrawing the illegal observers and constituting a process of selecting new and genuine observers with full participation of all major stakeholders, particularly the political parties contesting in the elections. Anything short of this is unacceptable and will be highly and firmly resisted by the people.”

     

  • Obaseki to PDP: I will not compromise my vision for education

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has said he would not compromise his  vision for educational institutions in the state over what he termed ‘ranting of a dying Edo PDP’.

    Obaseki, who was reacting to condemnation by the People’s Democratic Party ( PDP) over the sacking of employees of the College of Agriculture, said students of the institution were thankful to him for intervening in the affairs of the institution that was notorious for abuse of procedures.

    The governor, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said an ineffectual party  should not speak when efforts to revamp institutions of higher learning were discussed.

    He noted that a report of the committee he set up to audit activities of the institution, revealed heartbreaking and irritating details.

    Obaseki said: “Edo people and residents have not forgotten what educational institutions, from primary, secondary to tertiary levels, looked like when they held sway. While some of the schools were set up as conduits to siphon public funds, others were grossly mismanaged, which explains why the federal government regulatory agencies denied them accreditation.

    “But convinced that good leadership can turn the story of the institute around for the better, Governor Obaseki has since sent students of the institute, to the various world class agricultural institutes and companies in the state, namely; the Nigeria Institute of Rubber Research, Okomu Oil Palm Company Nigeria plc, Presco plc, amongst others, to learn the nuances of agriculture.

    “The Obaseki administration is consolidating on the red roof classroom building revolution of his predecessor, by embarking on teacher training and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based teaching for better learning outcomes.”