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Tag: PDP

  • FG paid Chattam House for poll shift – APC

    FG paid Chattam House for poll shift – APC

    The All Progress Congress Presidential Campaign Organization  has challenged the Peoples Democratic Party and the Federal Government to disclose how much was paid to Chattam House to give the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, the platform to call for the postponement of the general election earlier fixed for February 14 and 28.

    Reacting to allegations by the PDP that the party spent N5 billion to enable its presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari speak at Chattam House, the APCPCO said the government should tell the whole world how much it paid to Chattam House before it granted Dasuki audience.

    While speaking at the Chattam House, the NSA had said the elections were not feasible due to security concerns and the Service Chiefs later informed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that they cannot guarantee security during the elections, leading to a six- week postponement of the exercise.

    However, after Buhari’s address at the Chattam House, the PDP said the opposition party spent N5billion to enable the former head of state deliver his address at the prestigious British institute.

    In a statement signed by its Director of Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the organization lamented that Jonathan’s administration has taken propaganda to a ridiculous level of childishness, triviality and banality.

    Shehu said any suggestion by the PDP that the APC bribed Chattham House to get its presidential candidate speak at the institute was a reflection of the general opinion that the ruling party has not only run out of ideas and popular goodwill.

     

  • APC, PDP row over fuel scarcity

    APC, PDP row over fuel scarcity

    Fuel scarcity persisted yesterday across the major cities as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) battled to stem the worrisome tide.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) blamed it all on the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), which described the call as “totally unconscionable and, indeed, an admission of failure”.

    Most of the petrol stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were shut.

    The queue at the NNPC mega station on Olusegun Obasanjo Way  stretched over two kilometres.

    The Oando Petrol Station on the same way was shut. The Total Petrol Station near the Customs Headquarters was besieged. The row of vehicles blocked half of the road from Customs to Wuse market.

    The Total Petrol Station opposite the NNPC was closed. The Conoil station beside it had a queue from  Bolingo Hotel Road and Wuse Market Road. Black marketers sold 10 litres for N3,000.

    Fuel queues became more pronounced yesterday within the Lagos metropolis.

    There were queues everywhere in the commercial capital where petrol sold for between N97 and N110. In some places, a litre was sold for between N140 and N150.

    At the MRS filling station in Lambe, Akute on the outskirt of the city, a litre of  petrol was sold for N147. An official of an Oando retail outlet in Mushin, Olorunsogo, on Lagos Mainland, said most marketers were selling from their old stock as they had not been loading.

    Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) spokesman Babatunde Oke said the body had advocated for improvement in operations to prevent scarcity. He said petroleum scarcity would continue until Nigeria grows the downstream sector.

    The NNPC has given two ships laden with 40 million petrol (premium motor spirit) to Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) members and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) 18 million litres for distribution as short term measure to tackle the scarcity.

    The Nation learnt that the 18 million litres for the IPMAN were supplied to the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCo Plc) and Aiteo Marketing, members of MOMAN, after a meeting yesterday agreed to tackle the supply challenge and make petrol available before weekend.

    MOMAN Executive Secretary Mr. Obafemi Olawore told The Nation that they (marketers) took delivery of the supplies from the NNPC yesterday and promised that from today the queues would ease in Lagos.

    He said the Abuja situation would start to improve from Thursday because of bridging time. The product is being supplied from Lagos and will be trucked to Abuja, Olawore said.

    Olawore said the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, reassured members of MOMAN that subsidy payment for outstanding imports, which is N264 billion, will start this week.

    IPMAN President Chief Chinedu Okoronkwo said the government promised to pay its members, adding that depots owned by IPMAN members were selling fuel.

    Okoronkwo said: “There is fuel now, but as usual the ripple of one day scarcity can last for many days. The current upset in distribution will take some days to normalise. The current economic recession is a global thing and the continued drop of the naira to the dollar is a factor to the supply problem but all these have been discussed and taken care of. Everything will normalise very soon.”

  • APC, PDP and LP battle for Kwara

    APC, PDP and LP battle for Kwara

    All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are warming up for the governorship election in Kwara State. It is the first exercise in the post-Olusola Saraki era. How will Kwarans vote? Correspondent Adekunle Jimoh beams a searchlight on the parties, the candidates and the issues that will shape the contest.

    The image of the Kwara political kingpin, the late Dr Olusola Saraki, still looms large as the general elections draw near. The Saraki dynasty, as it is fondly called, is now being led by the late politician’s son,  Senator Bukola Saraki.

    The late Saraki was political colossus and godfather to many in Kwara. He was initially touted to be a multi-billionaire until after his demise, when it became apparent that the man  left behind only two houses: one in Lagos and the other one at Ilorin, the state capital.

    This post-humus revelation, further endeared the man to his numerous followers and, perhaps, it could be the most striking factor in the choice of his biological son, Bukola, by his admirers as the new political leader. Many believe that all is well with the dynasty. In addition, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has lived up to expectation. Therefore, he will win a second term.

    However, there are two political blocs in the state: those who believe in the retention of the status quo and those are radically opposed to it.

    Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Saraki are on one side, while the two major opposition parties, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) are the other side.

    Another factor affecting Kwara politics at the moment is the presidential candidate of the two major parties. There are those backing the APC because of its presidential flag bearer, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.  There are also those rooting for the PDP because of President Goodluck Jonathan. The governorship candidates of the PDP and the LP, Senator Simeon Ajibola and Dr Mike Omotosho respectively, are campaigning for the President’s re-election.

    At the governorship level, the pertinent question is, what is the chances of the opposition in the  election?

    Ajibola, a senator for three consecutive terms, emerged as the PDP candidate against all odds. He  defeated other aspirants, including former presidential aide Senator Makanjuola Ajadi; former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN); ex-sports minister Alhaji Bio Ibrahim; former Federal Character Commission chair Prof. Shauib AbdulRaheem; Senator Gbemisola Saraki and Deacon John Dara, a crony of former Defence Minister Theophilus Danjuma.

    Ajibola’s emergence initially generated bad blood among co-aspirants. But, a reconciliatory meeting convened by the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) of the party Chief Tony Anenih in Ilorin,  made the aggrieved contestants into burying the hatchet.

    The Chairman of the PDP Chief Iyiola Oyedepo said: “We are one big family and we are happy going into election with this oneness of spirit.” In the same vein, during the inauguration of the Campaign Team, the Minister of National Planning, Olanrewaju Suleiman said that “the PDP is one in Kwara and that we must vote for President Jonathan and our governorship candidate, Senator Ajibola.”

    Despite these assurances, many PDP supporters believe till date that the campaign style of Ajibola does not portray him as “a serious governorship candidate.”

    A source, who pleaded anonymity said: “When you offer him advice, he will not listen. Even when you call him on phone, he doesn’t pick calls. I am sure he has not committed his resources into this project apart from the money allegedly released to him by the Presidency. So, is that person a serious candidate?”

    Another source said that Ajibola could just be an agent “serving as a mole to a political power broker in the state.”

    He added: “From his behaviour, he may just be pretending to be a candidate of the opposition party. But, only time will reveal how he would fare.”

    Dispelling these insinuations, Oyedepo said the PDP poses a serious challenge to the APC, adding that the campaign strategies could never have been the same. “We are serious with our campaigns, which is led by no other person other than Dara. We are working very hard on daily basis and we do these based on the available funds at our disposal.

    The spokesman for the Simeon Ajibola Campaign Organisation (SSACO), Tajudeen Kareem, said its state-wide campaign tour would resume this week, after a brief break necessary to perfect its strategies and tidy up security arrangements.

    Besides, Dara said local government and ward campaign coordinators have been engaged in house-to-house consultation in the last two weeks, taking the PDP message of freedom and prosperity to the grassroots.”

    Dara also said there is no iota of truth in the insinuation that some PDP members are aggrieved because, in line with the PDP flag bearer’s policy, the organisation is running an all-inclusive campaign.

    “We have deliberately taken care of all interests in our party and that is why all our former governorship aspirants are fully involved in the campaign. If you notice, we have an unusually large campaign organisation. This is to ensure that all major stakeholders and all interest groups are carried along,” he explained.

    Many observers even see Omotosho as a more viable alternative. According to Abdulmumeen Onagun, former Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the LP candidate represents “an ideal choice for the type of governor that Kwara needs.”

    Onagun added: “Here is Omotosho, a trained pharmacist, an industrialist per excellence, one who has no godfather, but has the true God as his father. He is young, vibrant and widely travelled. If you look at his manifesto, you will see that he is the right man for the job.”

    Omotosho has touched the lives of many Kwarans with his scholarship schemes. Besides, he has taken his free medical missions to over 50 communities across the state, just as he remains the only governorship candidate in the state with supports for youth development and supports for the aged and people with special needs. He has equally procured over one million cooking stoves for the needs of women across the three Senatorial districts of the state.

    Omotoso said: “I pledge to submit my monthly salary to this noble scheme that shall be implemented with the true sense of service to God and humanity. Our social security scheme will directly affect three categories of people namely: the aged, the pensioners and the handicapped.

    “The government shall be committed to a monthly allowance to elderly ones beyond the age of 70. Kwara shall be the first state in Nigeria in the area of ensuring that those who served the people with the strength of their youth are not subjected to ridicule at old age.

    However, many perceive the governor to the strongest candidate. The impregnability of the Saraki dynasty, which is solidly behind Ahmed, coupled with his numerous achievements in the last four years in office, have put him in a better position to beat his rivals. Analysts say the governor would win on April 11 convincingly.

    Again, people’s desire for a change from the President Jonathan’s years of impunity, insecurity, corruption and misrule and the Buhari bug that has caught the electorate in Kwara is the icing on the cake for Ahmed.

     

  • Jonathan: nobody can intimidate PDP

    Jonathan: nobody can intimidate PDP

    President Goodluck Jonathan has maintained that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot be intimidated by any party as it has performed well in the last 16 years.

    He spoke yesterday at a one-day workshop and strategic meeting for members of the PDP Ward Volunteers Scheme at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    According to him, his administration has opened up the various sectors of the economy and enabling more Nigerians to be involved in the economy.

    He said: “On behalf of all of us who are contesting, I thank you because when you market the party, you are marketing the candidates. You are doing well for our party.

    “PDP is not just the largest party in Nigeria, but it is the only party that has members at all voting units. There is no other party whether two, three four, five parties coming together, they cannot reach that level. PDP has members in every voting unit in this country.”

     

  • Party: we’re concerned about Fani-Kayode’s mental status

    Party: we’re concerned about Fani-Kayode’s mental status

    •Threatens legal action against PDP, campaign spokesman

    Contrary to information being peddled by the Director of Media and Publicity of the Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the party does not wish him any ill-health, “even though it is seriously concerned about his mental state”.

    APC’s National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed,  in a statement in Dubai yesterday, said: ‘’No, we have never and will never wish anyone any ill-health.

    “However, we are seriously concerned that Mr. Fani-Kayode may have unhinged, perhaps as a result of a relapse into an unhealthy lifestyle of substance abuse.

    “Our concern stems from the series of incoherent statements, outlandish claims and inconsistent behaviours exhibited by Mr. Fani-Kayode in recent times, which call into question his state of mental health.

    “We wish Mr. Fani-Kayode well and call on him to tell Nigerians that he remains clean, despite the massive pressure of work, and that he will not do anything that will see him needing a prolonged reformation in a foreign land.”

    The party said it was only an unstable mind and someone teetering on the brink that would conjure up the kind of improbable scenarios that had been put out there in quick succession by Mr. Fani-Kayode, and still believed strongly that he was doing the right thing.

    It said the APC did not harbour the kind of disturbed personalities, who abound in the PDP, and who would not hesitate to publicly wish fellow Nigerians ill or dead, as long as they believe such ill-will would endear them to their masters and guarantee their political survival.

    The party has, however, urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Fani-Kayode to produce evidence on their purported claims that the APC vice presidential running-mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, entered into a pact with APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to resign as vice president after the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, might have won the presidential election.

    Director of Media and Publicity, APC presidential campaign organisation Mallam Garba Shehu  said the PDP and Fani-Kayode should provide evidence of the oath-taking and resignation of Prof. Osinbajo for Asiwaju Tinubu or retract the libellous claims within 72 hours or be ready to be sued to court.

    He said: “For the PDP, through Fani-Kayode, to state publicly that an erudite professor of law, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a reputable pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God swore to an oath to vacate his seat as the vice president for Asiwaju Tinubu, should the party win the forthcoming election, is an attack on the hard-won integrity and the reputations of these great Nigerians and APC stalwarts.

    “We view this as both slanderous and libellous and, therefore, will not leave the matter to chance. To this effect, we hereby give Fani-Kayode and the PDP 72 hours to produce evidence or in the alternative issue public apology to Pastor Osinbajo, Asiwaju Tinubu and our party, the APC, or be prepared to be charged to the court of law.”

  • Gbemisola Saraki to dump PDP

    The daughter of the late kingpin of Kwara politics, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, may dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it was learnt yesterday.

    The shabby treatment meted out to the former Kwara Central senator and her supporters during President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential rally, it was learnt, left a sour taste in her mouth.

    A source close to the daughter of the late Dr. Olusola Saraki confided in The Nation that “between you and I, the senator will definitely dump PDP. Very soon she will make public her next line of action.

    “Can you imagine, during that presidential campaign, the senator, though out of the country, was given a paltry N50,000 to mobilise her supporters.”

    In a statement, PDP Secretary, Hassa Razaq, urged her to shelve her rumoured bid to dump the PDP for another party.

    The statement reads: “Although we are relieved by the assurance that the rumour of the possible defection of Senator Gbemi Saraki is false and unsubstantiated, nevertheless, we consider it expedient to implore Senator Saraki and her supporters not to allow the voices of division to overwhelm them.

    “At this critical time in the life of our party in the state, we believe all hands must be on deck to sustain the party and lead it to victory at the polls.

    “As a party, we believe Senator Gbemi Saraki has made invaluable contributions and sacrifices for the PDP in the state and beyond. We particularly noted her maturity and sportsmanship before, during and after the  primaries, which produced distinguished Senator Simeon Ajibola as the party’s governorship candidate for the April 11 election.

    “It will therefore be sad if such an individual, who has immensely uplifted the party in the state, abandons the house she has built at its time of need. This is Kwara PDP’s time of need and we urge Senator Saraki to remain in the party and see through the struggle for the liberation of Kwarans.

    “Although it may not be impossible that there are areas of grievances, we believe it is not enough to allow such to derail our focus ahead of the polls.

    “We reiterate that genuinely aggrieved members are being sorted and the leadership of the party shall do  its best to ensure that cases of genuine grievances are addressed before the elections.”

  • Court upholds  Ugwuanyi as PDP’s governorship candidate

    A Federal High Court in  Abuja yesterday  dismissed a suit filed by Senator Ayogu Eze, challenging the emergence of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in  Enugu State.

    Eze sued the PDP, its National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu and the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC), seeking, among others, to be declared the  candidate for the governorship election.

    He claimed to have been given the authentic ticket of the party, having emerged from one of the two primary elections conducted in the state last December 8.

    While the suit was pending, Ugwuanyi, who is enjoying the support of the national leadership of the PDP, applied and was joined as an interested party.

    In his judgment, Justice  Evoh Chukwu  noted that from the averments made, it was only one governorship primary election conducted in Enugu State on December 8 under the watchful eyes of the national officers of the PDP.

    “The plaintiff’s suit did not succeed as he failed to show how any section of the constitution or the Electoral Act as well as PDP guidelines for the conduct of governorship primary election was breached or violated,” the judge held.

    Justice Chukwu, who earlier dismissed the preliminary objections of the defendants, agreed with the defendants that it was only a political party that could choose its candidate in an election.

    The judge held that the power to conduct party primaries rested solely on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party and not the state Executive Council.

    Eze had, in a supporting affidavit,  said PDP conducted ward congresses in Enugu State last November 1 as a result of which a list of delegates for the conduct of primary election for the governorship candidate of the party emerged, consisting names of the elected delegates.

    He said the list was sanctioned and authenticated by the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in a suit, which judgement was delivered last November 24.

    Justice Chukwu held that the sister court “never sanctioned any delegate list. The plaintiff has variously tried to import into the judgment of the sister court what the court did not say.”

    He believed that Eze failed to show any evidence indicating that the NWC of the PDP conducted the primary, which  he claimed was the authentic one.

     

  • Jonathan, PDP governors, candidates meet at Aso Rock

    President Goodluck Jonathan last night met behind closed doors with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The governors were led to the meeting which started about 4.p.m by the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio.

    They were joined at the meeting after about two hours by the PDP governorship candidates in all the states.

    Details of the meeting were unknown as of press time as the meeting was on going.

    But a source said that it was not unconnected with strategy for the March 28 and April 11 presidential and governorship elections.

    The governors at the meeting included Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Theodore Orji (Abia) and Bala Ngilari (Adamawa); Ibrahim Shema (Katsina) and Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa).

    Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Ayo Fayose (Ekiti); Usman Dakingari (Kebbi), Ramalan Yero (Kaduna); Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Idris Wada (Kogi) attended the meeting.

  • APC alleges PDP plans to push for new election dates

    APC alleges PDP plans to push for new election dates

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday raised the alarm over the “relentless scheming” by the Goodluck Jonathan Administration and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to push for another postponement of the 2015 general elections, unless they can perfect a rigging plan, and called for the imposition of global sanctions on whoever scuttles the polls.

    In a statement issued in Dubai by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the multi-pronged efforts to prevent the elections from holding as rescheduled include the use of some 23 portfolio political parties to seek a further shift in the election dates and the destabilisation of INEC’s election plan through the orchestrated removal of its Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega.

    It said the “same 23 satellite parties” of the PDP that were used to push for the six-week postponement of the elections have again started testing the waters by pushing for a further shift in the elections in the six states of the North-east, ostensibly to allow the conclusion of the counter-insurgency battle and also to allow those displaced to return home.

    ‘’The plan is to use the same bogey of insecurity in the North-east to push for another postponement in the elections. The signs are ominous indeed. The body language of the President and his party does not support the holding of elections. They are mortally afraid of losing because the use of PVCs and Card Readers have thwarted their rigging plans,’’ APC said.

    The party said while the 23 parties are pushing for the elections to be further postponed, the Jonathan Administration and the PDP are simultaneously forging ahead with their plan to remove Prof. Jega and replace him with a malleable acting Chairman whom, they believe, will do their bidding.

    ‘’Once they remove Jega, his replacement will either seek more time to organise the polls or simply jettison the plan to use Card Readers, thereby opening the door for those who have been buying up PVCs to use them.

    ‘’Is it not interesting that the same Administration that has been flaunting free and fair elections as a key achievement has now gone for the jugular of the same man who organised those polls? Is the man they don’t want not the same person who organised the 2011 polls which the administration has described as free, fair and credible? What has now gone wrong between them and their poster boy for successful elections? it queried.

    APC warned that the consequences of another postponement of the elections will be dire, indeed, especially because it will create a constitutional crisis that is capable of endangering the country’s democracy and destabilising the country in its entirety.

    The party called on Nigerians, especially the civil society, to be very vigilant in the days ahead, as the cloud of uncertainty becomes thicker and the vultures begin to circle.

    It also called on the international community to consider imposing stiff sanctions on key members of the Jonathan Administration if they force another postponement or scuttle the polls.

    ‘’However, we also believe that the international community has a role to play in helping to check the desperadoes who are using the Laurent Gbagbo rule book as if it was made for them, and who will not hesitate to bring the whole system crashing down on all if that is what it will take for them to perpetuate themselves in power.”

  • PDP criticises Buhari’s lecture

    PDP criticises Buhari’s lecture

    Days after Gen. Muhammadu Buhari got a standing ovation at Chatham House, London, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is still battling to stop the gains of event.

    The PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation yesterday alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) paid Chatham House for Gen. Buhari to speak at the prestigious institute last Thursday. Chatham House is not a profit-making organisation. It is not known to charge fees for hosting dignitaries.

    The Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP campaign organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode who made the allegation at a media briefing, also said questions and answers on topics Buhari addressed were leaked to him by the organisers of the event.

    He did not provide any proof of this. Neither did he state how much was allegedly paid.

    Fani-Kayode insisted that the APC presidential candidate’s trip to London was on medical ground.

    Gen. Buhari told reporters after his lecture that he was fit as a fiddle and was, in fact, on his way home for the “final onslaught”.

    “There are some interesting facts about the Chatham House outing that Nigerians should know. The event was organised only two days before it took place and well after Buhari had arrived in London,” Fani-Kayode said.

    Days before Gen. Buhari went to London, his itinerary was announced; the Chatham House lecture was on top of his list of engagements.