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Tag: PDP

  • Why Jonathan’ll lose in Southwest, by Buhari campaign office

    Why Jonathan’ll lose in Southwest, by Buhari campaign office

    President Goodluck Jonathan was Tuesday told to forget the votes of the southwest despite his repeated trips to the zone and the series of parleys he held with groups during such visits.

    The Buhari/Osinbajo Campaign Organisation which gave the sweeping verdict, said the President erred by thinking the votes of the Southwest was for sale.

    According to the Coordinator of the organisation in Lagos State, Abiodun Faleke, people in the region will not vote for a president who has no record of kept promises.

    Faleke, a member of the House of Representatives, who is seeking reelection from the Ikeja Federal Constituency, reminded the president that a promise he made on the power sector in August 12, 2010 has not been fulfilled five years after.

    The lawmaker recalled how President Jonathan promised the Nigerians would enjoy stable power beginning from 2012 at the launch of the Roadmap for Power Sector Reforms at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    “Precisely, Mr. President said: ‘By God’s grace, by December 2012, Nigeria will not only celebrate one day of uninterrupted electricity supply, but we would celebrate one week, one month and so on of uninterrupted electricity supply,” the Buhari campaigner said.

    Reacting to President Jonathan’s frequent trips to Lagos since the shift of the general elections from February 14 and 28, Faleke said the people will still not vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), even if the President moved the seat of power to the Centre of Excellence.

    “It doesn’t matter how many weekends the President spends here in the Southwest; it doesn’t also matter how much he gives out to individual, the All Progressives Congress (APC) will still defeat him.

    “We’re defeating him. His constant trips to Lagos clearly show that Mr. President has lost it not only in Lagos but in the entire Southwest. Of course the people will take his money and still voter according to their conscience.

    “If in the past six years, he has not shown interest in the Southwest, then it is too late to be rushing here every week. The money being wasted as Greek gifts could have been channeled into ventures that would benefitted the society.

    “In 2010, he came to Lagos to promise steady power supply. Has he done that? Do we have power now? Interestingly, the same venue where he made that promise is Mr. President base again. Enough of unfulfilled promises!” he said.

    Faleke described as contradiction that the same Yoruba leaders President Jonathan once described as rascals have suddenly become his beautiful brides.

  • APC alleges PDP plans to re-enact ‘Ekiti rigging strategy’

    APC alleges PDP plans to re-enact ‘Ekiti rigging strategy’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday raised the  alarm over plans to rig the general elections by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), using what it described as the “Modified Ekiti Rigging Strategy”.

    The party urged foreign election observers and the international community to beam a searchlight on the electoral process, stressing that the ruling party cannot be trusted.

    APC National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed told reporters in Lagos that PDP chieftains are working round the clock to manipulate the elections because the ruling party is not popular.

    He said: “It is no longer news that a Captain in the Nigerian Army, Sagir Koli, has exposed how the administration used the military to rig the governorship election in Ekiti on June 21st 2014. According to Capt. Sagir, soldiers were put at the behest of designated PDP officials at each of the 16 local governments to work with the officials to rig the elections.

    “Once the PDP officials pointed out any APC leader in a particular local government, such leader was either arrested and detained or simply hounded into hiding. APC leaders who were arrested also had the funds in their possession, including money to pay party agents and for other logistics, confiscated as they were detained till well after the election.

    “We have additional information to give you on what has now become Ekitigate. Contrary to the general belief, it was not just the military that was involved. It was the entire gamut of the nation’s security agencies; the police, the State Security Service (SSS) and the Civil Defence. They were all constituted into a task force that was deployed to each local government and placed under the command of the PDP.

    “We have the names of all the servicemen involved in the criminal act, as well as their service and telephones numbers. On the morning of the Ekiti election, not one APC leader was a free man or woman. They were either in detention, in hiding or on the run, because the task force carried out its duty with brutal efficiency.”

    Mohammed alleged that plans were underway to modify the strategy used to rig the Ekiti election, following public outcry over the “show of shame”.

    He said, since it had become old-fashioned to use the military for the illegal act, PDP chieftains were sewing military and police uniforms for thugs, who will be instigated to create confusion during the exercise.

    Mohammed stressed: “A large number of uniformed personnel on election day will be those donning fake uniforms and ranks, and their mandate will be to rig for the PDP and terrorise opposition members and supporters.

    “They have also mobilised ethnic militias across the country; MASSOB in the Southeast; the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in the Southwest and ex-militants in the Niger Delta. Mobilised under the pretext of a N9 billion pipeline contract, the marching order given to the ethnic militias is to destabilise the election in their respective regions, thus rendering it inconclusive. The highly disruptive and armed protest by the OPC in Lagos last Monday was a dress rehearsal for the plot.”

    The Publicity Secretary said thugs have been trained in the Southwest,particularly Ondo and Ogun states, to disrupt the elections.

    Urging the security agencies to rise to the occasion, Mohammed said:  “In Ondo State, training was organised by the PDP leadership in Ilaje/Okitipupa zone. These thugs, numbering over 300, were given two weeks training in weapons use under a Commander/President called Miti. They have now been moved in 12 buses to join the Ogun State Group from where they will be dispatched to other states in the Southwest, with arms.

    “For the Northern part of the country, the plot is to deploy the Special Forces, who were trained in Belarus, to the liberated territories in the Northeast, ostensibly to hold the liberated territories. But, in reality, they are to rig the election for the PDP. Also, Vice President Namadi Sambo has met with security chiefs in Kaduna with a request that they must deliver 2 million votes to the PDP anyhow, with promises of mouth-watering incentives include cash and promotion.”

    The party official alleged that the Inspector-General of Police and the Service Chiefs are also part of the plot to rig the elections.

    He recalled that the Inspector-General has issued a strange and unlawful warning to voters to cast their votes and leave the polling units.

    Mohammed said a similar order is expected to be issued by the Chief of Army Staff, ahead of the election, in a bid to harass and intimidate voters.

    Urging voters to ignore unlawful directives, which are not supported by the Electoral Act, he said voters are free to defend their votes without disrupting the electoral process.

    Mohammed added: “Without being disruptive, they should use their phone cameras to document proceedings at the various polling booths so that no one will tamper with their votes. All they are required to do is to conduct themselves peacefully.

    “We will not accept accept a repeat of the Ekiti rigging strategy in any form, modified or not. Voters must not be harassed or intimidated and they must be allowed to defend their votes, as supported by the Electoral Act. Those who are bent on rigging the elections must know that Nigeria will be under a global spotlight on election day. No polling booth, no matter where it is located, will escape that spotlight.”

    Mohammed thanked the United States and Britain for their commitment to  free, fair, credible and violence-free polls in Nigeria as demonstrated in the article jointly written by US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Phillip Hammond.

    He said: “We at the APC associate ourselves with that timely article in which the authors urged ‘all eligible Nigerians to vote, resist those who attempt to incite violence, and to come together as one country to defend the country against terrorist threats.

    “Those planning to disrupt or rig the elections and instigate violence should heed the warning signals from the international community, as aptly conveyed by Mr. John Kerry and Mr Phillip Hammond, that ‘any person who incites violence at any stage in the electoral process, or who seeks power through unconstitutional means, should be held accountable and should understand that the consequences will be severe, both domestically and internationally.”

     

  • Can Jonathan win this election?

    Can Jonathan win this election?

    The stage is set for the presidential poll. Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his main challenger, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, are on the last lap of mobilisation across the six geo-political zones. Unlike in 2011, the President faces more hurdles. Amid the popular clamour for change, can he weather the storm? Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu highlights the major issues that will shape the contest.

    NIGERIA, the most populous African nation-state, will decide on its future on Saturday. Consensus may be difficult at the critical poll. This is due to its plurality and inherent conflicts of interests among stakeholders. There are divergent perceptions about the issues on the front burner. These may be moderated by such stronger factors as ethnicity and religious leanings. There seems to be a balance of strength and wit. But, at the close of polls, it is expected that voters would have either voted to retain the status quo or change for a better future.

    The election is taking place at a critical period. The nation is in despair. The economy is on crutches. Other sectors are ailing. Electricity is beyond reach. Other social infrastructure have collapsed. Many of the states cannot pay salaries. Many graduates face a bleak future. The jobs are not just  there. Corruption is soaring in high places. Nigeria has almost become a laughing stock in the international community. Insecurity has driven away investments. It is the tragedy of a promising country; a country endowed with vast human talents and natural endowment, but lacking the right leadership.

    According to the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, N360 billion is spent on the procurement of generators and diesels for 708 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). In this years Budget, 84 per cent is earmarked for recurrent expenditure while 16 per cent is for capital expenditure. Irked by these figures, the Chairman of the Committee,  Opeyemi Bamidele, said that the President has bad advisers.

    “Who are the people advising the President? These figures are scaring and scandalous. Nigeria is bleeding,” he said.

    Four years ago, the choice before Nigerians was narrow. However, the diverse people of the highly heterogeneous country now have two options. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan, who assumed the reins, following the death of his predecessor, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua. He is fighting for survival. His second term bid appears to be a Herculean task, unlike in 2011, when certain factors worked in his favour. His challenger, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), seems to be waxing stronger as the rallying point for the formidable opposition party – the All Progressives Congress (APC).

     

    Core issues

     

    In 2011, many factors shaped the presidential election. These included the succession battle following Yar’Adua’s demise, the voting history of the electorate, states and regions; ethnic leaning, political sentiment, perception of the people about the leading candidates, and Southwest sympathy for the President. But, some of the factors have faded away.

    When Yar’Adua died after a protracted illness, the mantle fell on Dr. Jonathan. Although Northern elements in the ruling PDP demanded for a successor from the North, the agitation was devoid of logic and it ran contrary to the constitution. The doctrine of necessity was invoked to elevate the former vice president to an acting president in his principal’s long absence. When he was eventually catapulted to the front seat, preparations for the general elections of 2011 had started. The PDP considered him as the proper person to fly its flag, owing to the incumbency factor.

     

    Ethnicity

     

    Ethnic jingoism was another key factor. The sentiment was fueled in the Southsouth that the son of the soil was thrown up by fate at a time the region was clamouring for a sense of belonging under the fragile federation. It was a taboo for any Southsoutherner to raise a dissenting voice. The President appropriated the bloc goodwill flowing from regional solidarity. Today, that sentiment has evaporated. Addressing some youths in Abuja, Festus Keyamo, a lawyer- politician, said Nigerians will not vote for any candidate because of his tribal background. He said the pattern of voting will reveal that people have rejected ethnic sentiment. The lawyer, who is from the oil-rich Niger Delta, said Nigerians will vote for intelligent leaders who can perform.

    The ethnic card being played by the President in this electioneering may have also backfired. How to share the carrot thrown at the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Ndigbo groups, the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and monarchs in the Southwest is now a bone of contention. The strategy became counter-productive in the Southwest. As the OPC was on rampage, vandalising APC campaign posters, billboards and other materials, many people contented that a vote for the PDP will be a vote for terror.

     

    Religion

     

    Also gone with the wind is the religious bigotry of 2011. There was a campaign of calumny, which was to the advantage of the PDP candidate. Christians demanded for power shift based on religion. Spin doctors went into town, sensitising people into the barriers being mounted by Muslims against a Christian candidate. The South caught the bug.

    According to analysts, the strong sentiment and sympathy for the President in the politically conscious Southwest was hinged on regional altruism. The people of the Southwest rose up as defenders of the minority interest, which Dr. Jonathan represented. In their view, the President has just settled down, after men of goodwill liberated his administration from the jaw of cabals. Thus, he deserved the opportunity to try his luck at the polls as a matter of right, and in accordance with the constitution.

    Reality may have dawned on the zone that it had a wrong perception of the Commander-in-Chief. The number one citizen had evoked passion when he humbly approached voters for support. He described himself as the poorest of the poor; a shoeless boy from Otuoke, Bayelsa State, who through the grace of education, dint of hard work and sheer fate, rose to stardom. Many Nigerians deiced to identify with his aspiration. But, it appeared that they had deluded themselves into thinking that the poor boy from the pauperised clan would redress the injustice of poverty and make life abundant for all.

     

    Serious competition

     

    At the presidential election, President Jonathan got 22.5 million votes. Despite all these factors, Gen. Buhari, who contested on the platform of a seemingly fragile party, the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), scored 12.2 million votes. The former military Head of State’s performance in the South was woeful. The candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, was like a spectator on poll day. He got 2.1 million votes.

    The analysis of the pre-2015 voting pattern showed that Dr. Jonathan benefitted from multiple goodwill. He was a formidable candidate. Many thought that he had the experience, having served as deputy governor, governor, vice president, acting president and president. Then, the PDP was also a formidable platform. Indeed, other parties trembled before the ruling party because of its indomitable arsenal, structure and resources.

    When the North objected to the President’s candidature, former President Olusegun Obasanjo became his armour bearer in that region. He was his campaign manager. The former President wielded enormous influence among PDP leaders in the North. He was instrumental to the ascension of many governors, senators and ministers in the zone. It was therefore easy for the former PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman to pacify  aggrieved  chieftains pushing for power shift in the post-Yar’dua period. Obasanjo was also Dr. Jonathan’s coach up to the presidential primaries. To neutralise his opponent at the shadow poll, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Obasanjo would rise from his seat to speak some words into the President’s ears at that moment of anxiety and tension. Thus, President Jonathan defeated the Turaki Adamawa at the primaries.

    On the election day, Ribadu was no match for him. But, Gen Buhari put up a good fight. Many factors worked against the retired General. His CPC was very weak in the South. The former Head of State was like a lone ranger. He mooted an alliance with the defunct ACN, but it floundered. When the ACN/CPC deal collapsed, it was said that the General has not learned the ropes. According to sources, he was deficient in partisan negotiation and political abnegation. He was less inflexible and more condescending. Gen. Buhari had no foot soldiers beyond some states in the North, where he had fanatical loyalists. The media rated him as a candidate who would struggle, but without success.

     

    Strong opposition

     

    Also, Gen. Buhari’s campaigns were not vigorous. The CPC was hurriedly put together, following the contradiction in the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). It was a defective structure in the sense that it lacked a national outlook. The CPC was a sectional platform. The CPC standard bearer was not perceived as a formidable opponent across the six geo-political zones. Despite his success in some Northern states, he could not muster an equivalent electoral strength below the Niger.

    In 2011, many perceived Gen. Buhari as a Northern irredentist and a religious bigot. No effort was made to debunk the allegations. The propaganda, in part, succeeded. But, he made a spirited appeal to populism. He mounted the rostrum, calling attention to his personal lifestyle. He said he has not made money at the expense of the country while in public service. Only a few cared to listen to his message.

    When Buhari also selected a running mate, it was a wrong choice. His running mate, Pastor Tunde Bakare, a lawyer-turned preacher and a Senior Pastor, Latter Rain Assembly is not in the class of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). A brilliant commentator, he is not known to be a politician. Bakare was not a political asset, despite his popularity in the pro-democracy family.

     

    Break from the past

     

    But, it is a clean break from the past. Things are changing.  Gen. Buhari now has foot soldiers. On his side are veterans in the art of winning elections. His party, the APC, is bigger, solid and more formidable than the CPC. The merger has been successful. Unlike the PDP, it is not troubled by crisis. Defections from the APC has not decimated it in a way that its chances will be grossly affected at the polls.

    In contrast, PDP has not recovered from the mass defection. The party is a shadow of itself. Since the President has not lived up to expectation, the incumbency factor is waning. The collapse of the incumbency factor is underscored by the way and manner the President and other PDP chieftains have been running from pillar to post. In the past, President Jonathan never experienced much stressful campaigns. It is a different ball game in this electioneering.

     

    New permutations

     

    The permutations in the battle ground states of Edo, Rivers, Ekiti and Ondo may have also been altered, to the consternation of the PDP. In Edo, the calculus has changed. Between President Jonathan and Governor Adams Oshiomhole, there is a clash of interests. The governor is in charge, despite the PDP’s rebellion. In 2011, the comrade-governor could not move against Dr. Jonathan. The state could not dump a kinsman from Bayelsa for an opponent from Adamawa. In the Southsouth state, governorship election will not hold. But, for Oshiomhole to survive in the post-2015 era, APC parliamentary candidates must scale through at the polls. Indded, the ruling party in Edo has formidable candidates for the elections. It is relatively easier for the governor to approach voters for support because he has performed.

    Stakeholders have applauded the governor for his giant strides. The same has not been said of the President. In fact, last week, the Benin royal palace denied that it has endorsed the President for a second term.

    In Rivers, PDP has been balkanised, ahead of the polls. The defection of the governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and prominent chieftains to the APC, has decimated the chapter. Unlike 2011, when the PDP harvested a miraculous two million bloc votes, there will be a stiff competition for power in the oil-rich state at the general elections. In Rivers, APC has formidable governorship and parliamentary candidates.

    Ondo State will also be an interesting battle field. In 2011, Governor Olusegun Mimiko worked for the President as a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP). Few months ago, he defected to the PDP. His defection enlarged the PDP’s coast. But, the party also became fractionalised. Aggrieved chieftains have been grumbling that the governor has come to lord it over them. During the primaries, there was confusion. Reconciliation has not been effected. Besides, the presidential election is not standing alone. As people vote for the presidential candidates, they are also expected to elect lawmakers. The arrangement may confuse rural voters.

    The election will not be a walk over for any of the candidates. But, unlike 2011, the President will not have an easy ride.

  • Presidential election: PDP’s last card

    Presidential election: PDP’s last card

    From popular outcry, President Goodluck  Jonathan had promised Nigerians and the international community that the elections on March 28 and April 11 will hold; that Prof Attahiru Jega will not be removed or sent on terminal leave when the elections are just around the corner. I had told Nigerians and the international community that President Jonathan could not be trusted in his promises, as he will always go behind his promises to initiate or instigate moves that will undermine his own promises. How can we explain the Pro-Jonathan’s protest by the Oodua Peeple’s Congress (OPC) for the removal of Jega as the nation witnessed in Lagos on  March 16, which was meant to scuttle the March 28 and April 11 elections he has promised will hold?

    When it dawned on the President and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the use of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and Smart Card Readers (obviously meant to bring about free, fair and credible elections, devoid of rigging) was a foregone conclusion, protests and court cases were instigated by the presidency and the PDP to stop the use of these technological devices which ought to have been supported by the President who, himself, once promised to tackle corruption with the same technology he is now afraid of, simply because the use of the SCRs will not allow those who had cloned and bought PVCs to use them without being detected at the elections.  Just because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the people of Nigeria and the international community have insisted on the use of these technological devices for the elections of March 28 and April 11, and that under no circumstance should these elections be subjected to another postponement, the PDP’s last important card is its attempt to create confusion of monumental proportion on the day of election.

    The plan is to ensure that SCRs do not work on the days of elections, in order to justify their morbid fears about the use of the SCRs that will expose their rigging plans. Now, the All Peoples Congress (APC) has accused President Jonathan’s administration and the PDP of planning to jam the machines on voting days for which an Israeli has been hired. The Israeli “had developed three prototype SCRs jammers to be carried in the pockets of trusted PDP chiefs on election days to disable the SCRs so as to justify the PDP’s fears about the Card Readers” (The Nation, Tuesday, March 17, pages1&4). Besides disabling the SCRs, “the jammers will also disable all telephones, I-pads among others within the state’s radius of those carrying them on their persons”. The plan is to deploy the card jammers to the strongholds of the APC, like Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Rivers State and other suspected areas in the North, Southeast and Southsouth.

    The Israeli is already seen as a traitor to the international community interested in free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria, and “an enemy of Nigeria and Nigerians who do not mind if the nation burns, as long as he collected his pay”. For the production of 75,000 jammers, the nation would cough out $15 millon at $200 per jamming machine for the PDP! On this serious matter, Nigerians, the international community and the leadership of the INEC must see to it that none of the telephone service providers like MTN, GLO and ETISALAT cooperate or compromise with the Federal Government in this jamming game while the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) must steer clear of this shameful scenario. The leadership of INEC, with the cooperation of the international community, must provide counter jammers to the PDP jamming machine. Already, the international community and especially the United States (U.S.) have made it clear through Vice President Joe Biden, that INEC must use the PVCs and SCRs for the March 28 and April 11 elections in Nigeria (Punch, Friday, March 19, 2015, p.7)

    The questions that President Jonathan and PDP must answer at this eleventh hour are these: What plans do they have for successful elections that are free, fair and credible on March 28 and April 11? What plans do they have for creating crisis by using technology (jammers) to prevent the SCRs from working on March 28 and April 11? How actually prepared are they for these elections? And, finally, are they prepared to take responsibility for scuttling the March 28 and April 11 elections and the attendant consequences, should anything go wrong in accordance to their plan, wish or prayer? Or, by creating crisis at the coming election, do they hope that the army will take over in order to prevent any elections and Gen Muhammadu Buhari from being sworn in as the next President? It should be pointed out that any attempt to take over the government by the military will lead to a situation worse than those of the Arab Springs where the military and the police had no choice but to surrender to the superior force of the masses of the people who drove out President Mubarak and got him tried for crime against the Egyptian people by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

    The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba has said “no waiting at polling booths after voting” (Punch, March 20, p.2). Traditionally, electorate are expected to wait after casting their votes to ensure that their votes count and are counted. That is what INEC, the legally constituted authority to conduct and monitor elections in Nigeria, says. Voters are well protected by electoral – and not police – laws. The IGP should not usurp the powers of INEC and should be careful about his illegal directive which is not tenable, because what he is saying is that voters should not wait to monitor what happens to their votes and collect the results on the spot. This is yet another rigging device that must be thrown into the dustbin.

    On a final note, Nigerians must insist that election materials are delivered to the polling stations on time, as not doing so will affect those who are eager to cast their votes, especially if delays of election materials occur in the strongholds of the opposition party. The Federal Government must also be careful about the way it manipulates the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) for carrying news and advertisements about the PDP to the exclusion of the APC, because the NTA is for all Nigerians. Surely this policy of exclusion will backfire as it will further draw the wrath of Nigerians against the ruling party.  A word, we say, is enough for the wise!

     

    Moses Akinola Makinde is a professor of Philosophy and the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology & Good Governance, Osogbo, Osun State.

  • PDP planning to rig Saturday’s polls, says Ondo APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State yesterday alerted to plans by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to manipulate Saturday’s election.

    At a briefing in Akure, the state capital, yesterday, the APC Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, said: “It has come to our notice that a planned and well-coordinated effort is about to be activated to manipulate and rig the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections in Ondo State.

    “The PDP is the architect and mastermind of this plan and the purpose is to contrive victory for its candidates.

    “This alleged plan by the desperate powers in government is to involve some unscrupulous workers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the bad eggs of Army formations in Akure and Okitipupa, the Navy command in Igbokoda, the police and other security agencies in the state. Hired militants and sponsored thugs are also substantial parts of the plot.

    “We are bringing this to the notice of these organisations as well as residents because we were witnesses to the shameful acts of sabotage, dishonour and corruption, which pervaded the April 2011 and October 20, 2012, elections in Ondo in which over 150,000 illegal names were injected into the voter register.

    “There will be last minute arrest of prominent APC and non-partisan popular grassroots community leaders across the 18 local governments on trump-up charges. A dress rehearsal of this had been operated in Ofosu,Igbindo, Asantan  and parts of Owo Local Government.

    “During voting, they plan to create crisis and violence in the deep waterside villages of Ilaje and Apoiland as well as other rural areas of Odigbo, Ondo East, Ondo West, Idanre, Ifedore, Owo, Akoko Northwest and Irele.

    “They are delaying transportation of results materials from the hinterland to local government collation centres till nightfall to create a fertile ground for violence and manipulation.

    “They will use hired thugs and armed militants in military and police uniforms to hijack materials at key waterside villages in Arogbo, Sabomi, Igbotu, Kiribo, Ugbo and Mahin.

    “We wish to put INEC, police, Army Navy and the DSS on notice that all eyes are on them.”

  • PDP’s lies about state creation

    SIR: For quite some time now, immediately after the postponement of the 2015 general polls from February to March/April, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially in the South-west geopolitical zone, began a campaign of deceit mostly on the electronic media, through sponsored jingles that its presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan will create more states in the region if voted for.

    Thus, the party is deceiving the people that the creation of states is dependent on the President’s re-election. An example of such is the one that is frequently aired on popular private electronic media in Oyo State, including the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), under the auspices of Chief Ms. Jumoke Akinjide, the Minister of State for the Federal capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, who doubles as the South-West Coordinator, President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation.  Another nauseating aspect of it is the way some Yoruba royal fathers have been using President Jonathan’s visits to demand for the creation of state in their respective regions and how some leaders of Yorba extraction, mainly those that constitutes the delegates to the 2014 National Confab who endorsed the President’s candidature in a post summit Confab held recently within the region, have been misleading the people by making them to believe that the President has the power to create states since the issue forms part of the recommendations in the report of the Confab that was set up by him.  It wouldn’t also be unwise if one queries the rationale behind the President’s second term endorsement by the self-acclaimed Yoruba leaders. Going by this, one needs to wonder why Ms. Akinjide, with a respected discipline in the legal profession, vast experience in developed countries of the world as well as her party’s assertion to give ‘Power to the People’ feel so comfortable with such deceptive political gimmick all in the name of winning votes for her party and the President.

    Without nursing an iota of partisanship, if the Oyo PDP chieftain truly has the interest of the people at heart, she wouldn’t have resorted to such ridiculous and negative propaganda with the intention of swaying the votes of those she perceived are not well-informed among the electorate concerning certain workings of the government. Instead, she would have taken it upon herself as a lawyer saddled with the responsibility of interpreting the law and also as a political leader whose watchword and actions should be based on transparency and accountability in service to the people, to enlighten the bulk of the electorates on the process of creating new states under a civilian rule.

    Of course, one would have expected the minister to be aware of the fact that all the states that have been created in the history of the nation were done under Military rule through decrees at the will of dictators and their cronies.

    So, it wouldn’t be illogical to conclude that Ms. Akinjide and the PDP, as well as the President’s apologists in the south west are just being insincere to the electorates for they obviously knew quite well that President Jonathan or any President under a civilian rule cannot take responsibility for state creation due to what Section 8 of the 1999Constitution stipulates.

    Taken that the political enlightenment of the people should be one of the responsibilities of any well-meaning political party in a democracy, especially towards an election. This is to say that leaders and members of political parties should beat the forefront of enlightening the bulk of the electorate on how some policies; laws and basic principles that the society is governed by are formed.  It would, however, amount to an outright insensitivity on the part of a political party if it is found to be involved in deception and lies about certain governmental processes during its campaign for votes.

     

    • Abimbola Makinde,

    Total Garden, Ibadan

  • APC, PDP supporters clash in Kaduna

    The one million man-march of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to round off its campaigns in the Kaduna metropolis was brought to a standstill yesterday, as hoodlums suspected to be of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) clashed.

    People were injured and the posters of President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero were destroyed.

    Investigations by this reporter showed that trouble started as the march, which was originally planned to kick-off from the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, was stopped by security agents and the APC supporters were asked to move from there to the Kaduna International Trade Fair Complex on the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway.

    This, The Nation learnt, did not go down well with the APC members, who chanted “change, change dole”. They vented their anger on anything that had to do with the PDP, pulling down its billboards and tearing its posters.

    The situation almost got out of control at the NEPA Roundabout when some miscreants, who were said to be APC supporters, tried to scale the fence of the Goodluck/Sambo Campaign office, but they were confronted by the PDP supporters and this resulted in a fight.

    At press time five people were injured and are at the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, Kaduna.

    Operatives of the Kaduna State Security Outfit, Operation Yaki, arrived the scene and dispersed the warring parties.

    Spokesman for the El-Rufai Campaign Organisation, Samuel Aruwan, said their peaceful road march was infiltrated by PDP thugs, who planned to cause chaos to portray APC and its governorship candidate in bad light.

     

     

     

  • Suspected PDP thugs attack LP supporters in Ebonyi

    One person has been critically injured while many others sustained varying degrees of injuries when supporters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) attacked Labour Party (LP) supporters in Effium Community, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

    In the attack which occurred at Ekpitom village of the community, a Labour Party supporter, Elechi Omeligwe had his head broken with serious matechete cuts on his hands.

    Narrating his ordeal in the hospital bed, Omeligwe  told The Nation that he had alongside other members of the party travelled to the village for a ward campaign rally during which members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, who are alleged supporters of a candidate of the PDP for Ohaukwu North State Constituency attacked them with dangerous weapons.

    He said the thugs, who mounted road blocks with heavy woods to prevent movement of their vehicles also shot sporadically into the air to scare members of the party but when he refused to yield to the intimidation, the hoodlums pounced on him and inflicted machete cuts on his body.

    “Trouble started when we were trying to ensure that our supporters entered the vehicle. The PDP supporters mobilized themselves when they went around disseminating false information that they were holding rally that our supporters should not enter the vehicle.

    “The people I saw include Fidelis Agena, Joseph Aduma and former councilor, Hon. Akpu Onyebuchi. They are members of PDP. They prevented our supporters from entering the bike we went with. They broke my head with a stick; it was   Joseph Aduma who broke my head and threatened that if I insist on conveying my supporters to the venue of the rally that he would shoot me.

  • P – D – P ! Cash to the people

    Well dear reader, would it be stupid to ask where all this money is coming from? All the money we hear, see and know is being thrown around by the campaign office of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Could this be the fabled dividend of democracy much spoken about in the last 16 years? Is it possible that there is any Nigerian who has not been hit by the PDP cash wagon; at least indirectly?

    The PDP cash train has been hurtling across the land like a mobile, giant ATM machine dispensing cash directly to anyone who as much as stretches out his hands. It is an endless feast and the treat continues till at least March 28, 2015. Not to have picked up your PDP bundle by now would suggest that you are either smart by half or you are ‘poorly’ brought up.

    Being smart by half means that you consider yourself a member of the opposition group whereupon you sit at your corner and pontificate (not unlike Hardball here) about the licentious profligacy of PDP over the treasury in a time of economic failure. You probably forgot that what is being disbursed so recklessly is our commonwealth. On the other hand, you may be ‘poorly’ brought up and unfit for this age in which case you turn your nose up in righteous indignation about this bizarre new dollars and the naira suffrage. By the time you realize that it is a ‘new’ day and age, the deed would have been done and you would have yourself to blame for not cottoning on to the act.

    But it is not too late to join the band, no, money wagon if you are minded. In fact find out from the leaders of your church or mosque if they have already got their share. If the answer is yes, insist on getting your share or you expose them (some church denominations that chose to visit Aso Rock got as much as N20 million). If your church has not got, you may arrange to lead them to Aso Rock quickly to pay homage to the big man and endorse his second term. You will never return empty handed, neither will you be the same again.

    If you are not of any religious group, form an ethnic or tribal association now, especially of southwest or southeast bent. Call it a good name like Igbo Union Howling for Jonathan’s Second Term or O’dua Renaissance Troops for Jonathan. Find your way to Aso Rock. If you cannot get in, let your group mount a sentry at the nearest outpost. Soon enough you will be noticed and ‘settled.’

    If you are lucky, you may be given a bigger assignment like being mobilized to go rally for Jonathan along the famous Lagos-Ibadan Expressway or on the first Niger Bridge. That indeed will be the big stake. By the time you are through hiring the crowd and all the logistics, you would be shocked that you probably have almost as much cash to be able to fix the long-forsaken road.

    There are simply a thousand and one way you can log into this PDP’s who wants to be a billionaire election campaign. It is the new area of growth; the new economy!

  • ‘Money politics dangerous’

    The introduction of money politics by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win the forthcoming elections by all means is very harmful to the nation’s democracy, Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said.

    Kwankwaso spoke yesterday at his senatorial campaigns in Gezewa and Minjibir local government areas.

    He lamented that President Goodluck Jonathan and his cohorts have looted the country’s treasury to buy voter cards and tinker with the elections.

    The governor alleged Vice President Namadi Sambo was in the state last week to influence the electorate with money.

    He pointed out that despite financial enticement, Kano indigenes are politically sensible and looking for genuine change which only the All Progressives Congress (APC) can provide.

    The governor added that people are tired of the misrule of the PDP government, expressing confidence that the electorate in Kano would massively vote for the APC.