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Tag: PDP

  • ‘Obasanjo has torn PDP’s future’

    ‘Obasanjo has torn PDP’s future’

    The Ibadan People Association (IPA) has described the dumping of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the healthiest development in Nigeria’s democracy.

    Its National President, Abdulhakeem Adegoke Alawuje, said: “What Obasanjo tore is beyond his PDP membership card, he has torn the future of PDP in Nigeria.

    “If a former President and PDP’s founding father could tear his membership card in public, this is a sign that the PDP ship is sinking.

    “Whether we like it or not, Obasanjo remains a respected elder statesman in the country. He is not an ingrate as some people described him. He has warned President Goodluck Jonathan several times on the level of injustice in the party and after failing to address them, Obasanjo felt there was no point in remaining in the party. “

  • ‘Post-Confab summit dominated by PDP loyalists’

    ‘Post-Confab summit dominated by PDP loyalists’

    A leader of the Pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo yesterday expressed his displeasure over the set of invitees who attended a post- National Conference Summit convened by Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

    The theme of the summit: 2015 Elections and Yoruba Nation, was majorly attended by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains in the Southwest.

    Adebanjo, who chaired the event, said the summit was more or less a PDP affair, saying he was expecting prominent Yoruba sons and daughters across all parties, including traditional and religious leaders.

    The elder statesman said: “When I was asked to chair the summit, I said why, where was the Commissioner from Ondo State, Remi Olatunbora, who led us at the Confab? He is the one who should have convened the summit. I regard that as dereliction of duty on his part.

    “The summit ought to have held some months back to give report to the people who sent us to the conference. This was what made me attend and accept to be the chairman.

    “My observation here is that the summit seems to be dominated by the PDP. This is no PDP show because all the PDP candidates are here in the summit. The summit should be more important than a PDP affair. If you are convening something like this in future give the impression that we are doing it on a nonpartisan basis.

    However, Adebanjo, while reading the communiqué, said the gathering has resolved to fully back and work for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential elections, as only this could guarantee the implementation of the Confab recommendations.

    The communique was signed by 10 of those who attended the summit include; Mimiko, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, Coordinator of Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, among others.

    It also said the Yoruba nation is going to ensure that the confab recommendations get translated to concrete realities.

    Chiefs Reuben Fasoranti, Olu Falae and Sehinde Arogbofa were absent, but they sent their apologies.

  • Delta PDP expels Ochei, Omo-Agege

    The Delta State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expelled former Speaker Victor Ochei and ex-Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Oharisi Omo-Agege.

    Both contested last December 8 governorship primaries but failed.

    Ochei joined Accord Party and became its Delta North senatorial candidate and Omo-Agege is Labour Party’s (LP’s) Delta Central senatorial candidate.

    Also affected is a former member of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Doris Uboh, who is Accord Party’s House of Representatives candidate for Ika.

    Another Accord Party candidate for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal constituency, Ngozi Okolie, was also affected for leaving the PDP after allegedly failing in the primaries.

    Delta PDP Chairman Edwin Uzor addressed reporters in Asaba, the state capital, on the expulsion.

  • Omega Church vs Rivers: The facts, the fiction

    Omega Church vs Rivers: The facts, the fiction

    The General Overseer of a Port Harcourt-based church, the Omega Power Ministries (OPM), Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere, not long ago, hosted the Rivers State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Nyesom Wike, in his church on the Godspower Ake Road in the Rivers State capital.

    While addressing Wike, who is also the immediate past Minister of State for Education, and members of his entourage, the cleric accused the Rotimi Amaechi’s administration of denying his church approval/permit and Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for the 19.26 hectares of land at the Greater Port Harcourt City.

    Wike, a former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt; the Director-General of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011 and a two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Council of Rivers state, while speaking at the OPM, assured that two days after his inauguration as Rivers governor from May 29, 2015, he would give the church the C of O, allegedly being denied it by Amaechi’s government.

    The Rivers government, through the Administrator of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, Dame Aleruchi Cookey-Gam, however, declared that Apostle Chinyere was being mischievous and economical with the truth, describing his claims as spurious and baseless.

    Mrs Cookey-Gam, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) and an ex-Rivers Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, admonished the general overseer of OPM not to abuse his position and to always get his facts correctly.

    The administrator said: “We are in an electioneering period and at times such as this, so many activities go around, particularly in a fledgling democracy like ours, that send different signals to the undiscerning general public, which if not professionally handled, are likely to create negative impressions, including bitterness and unhealthy rivalry. We have a responsibility to address the issues dispassionately and for the purpose of equity, fairness, responsibility and posterity, set the records straight.

    “Our attention has been drawn to the recent news item in respect of the alleged denial of the granting of Certificate of Occupancy to the OPM by the Rivers State government. It is important that we place on record that the Hon. Commissioner for Lands and Survey (Ezemonye Ezekiel-Amadi), has stated very clearly that OPM has not submitted any application for C of O in respect of its parcel of land (19.26 hectares) at Mbodo-Aluu (Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State) to the Rivers State Ministry of Lands and Survey, which is the only ministry responsible for the issuance of C of Os. Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority is responsible for planning and regulating development of lands in the new city.

    “OPM submitted its application for charting of its parcel of land to the authority sometime ago. The coordinates used in carrying out the survey were faulty and as such, the survey plan could not be used for the charting. OPM was advised to submit a new survey plan, which it failed to do for a long while, as Apostle Chibuzor complained about the huge expenses he would incur with re-engaging his private surveyors. OPM subsequently submitted a new plan, which was used in charting and verification of its land.”

    The ex-SSG exonerated Amaechi of playing politics with the OPM’s land, describing the Rivers governor, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as a detribalised leader, who is fully committed to developing the state.

    Mrs Cookey-Gam said: “The OPM’s land (4 of the 19.26 hectares) is impacted by the right of way for the electricity transmission line from Rumuosi sub-station of Phase One of the new city, next to the stadium (Adokiye Amiesimaka Sports Complex). The authority has held many meetings with members of the OPM’s team, advising them on the extent of the impact, to enable them to prepare their conceptual layout plan. OPM finally submitted the conceptual layout plan to the authority, by the letter dated December 16, 2014.

    “The authority also formally wrote to the OPM in January 2015, confirming that the conceptual layout plan was acceptable in principle. OPM was also requested to submit its application for outline planning permit to the authority. We are yet to receive any application from OPM.”

    The administrator also stated that the authority had a responsibility to serve the interests of all citizens of Rivers state, including non-indigenes, private, local, national and international stakeholders, irrespective of gender, creed, race, ethnic and other backgrounds.

    She maintained that the alleged case of discrimination and partiality or refusal to grant OPM a C of O was baseless, stressing that the authority does not have such powers.

    Mrs Cookey-Gam said: “Apostle Chibuzor has been very economical with the truth. It is, therefore, important that we correct the wrong impression he has left in the public domain. The authority will process any application submitted by OPM, whenever it is received.

    “We will like to encourage men of God, who hold such positions, to understand their callings and altars as sacred and therefore desist from using such privileges to create disharmony.”

    The administrator stated that OPM’s allegation that the authority hurriedly approved its application, because of public outcry, was misplaced and quite unfortunate, declaring that the church had not got approval to embark on any construction yet, insisting that Chinyere was politicising the matter.

    She urged OPM to stop playing to the gallery and getting involved in politics, instead of focusing on spiritual matters.

    Mrs Cookey-Gam maintained that that Rivers government is daily issuing C of Os, while officials of the state’s ministry of lands and survey had also been processing C of Os  daily , urging developers to always comply with all the requirements.

     

  • Bayelsa PDP leadership crisis deepens

    Leaders write protest letter to Jonathan

    The leadership crisis rocking the Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened yesterday, following the decision of its leaders to send a protest letter to President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The state leader demanded the immediate removal of the party’s State Chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (retd).

    It was gathered that the decision to lodge a complaint with Jonathan followed the discovery that Inokoba was allegedly enjoying the protection of the Presidency.

    The embattled party chairman was recently suspended by the State Working Committee (SWC) for sundry allegations, including high-handedness.

    Members of the SWC and other party leaders were said to be angry that few weeks after they sent a recommendation to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) demanding the chairman’s sack, the NWC had not responded.

    The leaders threatened mass defection to the opposition, if the Presidency allegedly continued to shield Inokoba.

    It was gathered yesterday that the party leaders formally intimated the President of Inokoba’s alleged misdeeds as a sign of respect for him before dumping the party.

    The stakeholders, comprising the SWC members, the party’s chairmen in the local government areas and wards and as non-executive officials, were said to have signed up for the protest letter, calling for the sack of the chairman.

    Copies of the letter, it was gathered, would be sent to the governor, the National Chairman and the National Secretary.

    The aggrieved party leaders were said to have written the letter after extensive deliberations in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    The stakeholders were said to have concluded that President Jonathan, being the party’s leader, should be duly informed of “Inokoba’s excesses and shortcomings”.

    According to them, if not checked, Inokoba’s attitude would jeopardise PDP’s chances in the March 28 and April 11 elections.

    A source, who was privy to the decision, told our reporter in confidence that the letter outlined Inokoba’s alleged leadership excesses and failures.

    The source also said the letter contained a copy of the suspension document, which listed the party officials who endorsed the action.

    The source said: “The signed list revealed that of the 14 SWC members, 13 signed; one was absent. All the 15 non-working committee members signed the document. Going by the party’s structure, the 15 non-working committee members are like assistants to the 14 working committee members.

    “Also, the eight local government chairmen, who make up the complete structure of the party, which makes up the state executive, all signed the suspension letter.”

     

  • Igbo leaders endorse APC candidates

    Igbo leaders endorse APC candidates

    Igbo leaders in Lagos have dissociated themselves from the purported endorsement of the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The Igbo council, which comprises Igbo speaking community, Igbo community and Ohaneze group, said it has adopted  the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The spokesperson of the group, Eze Uche Dimgba, called on all Igbo in the state to vote for the APC.

    He said: “Some people came from outside Lagos and meet with few titled holders. They issued a statement supporting PDP candidates in Lagos. That is not our position.

    “We are supporting the APC and this is the party we are going to vote for. We are calling on all Igbo people to support APC and vote for the party at all levels in the general elections.

    “Every election year, Igbo in Lagos run after the PDP but the APC usually wins the election.

    “If our host does not vote for PDP, we, Ndigbo, must support them so that we can enjoy dividends of democracy with them.

    “If you vote for the PDP, it’s going to be a waste of time; they can never win here, so we are going to vote for the APC.”

    He called on all Igbo people to discard any information telling them to support the PDP.

    “The people claiming to be members of this council that endorsed  PDP candidates are frauds.

    “The group does not belong to the Eze Ndigbo community in the state,” he added.

    Lagos APC Publicity Secretary Joe Igbokwe said the political calculation does not favour President Goodluck Jonathan, considering that the North and Southwest, which have the largest number of voters, have thrown their weight behind the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

    He urged the Igbo to support APC for the zone to actualise Igbo presidency in future.

    Igbokwe said an Igbo presidency can never be realised without the Igbo working with Hausa and Yoruba people, because they are the three major tribes in Nigeria.

    A member of the House of Representatives and Lagos State Coordinator Buhari/Osinbajo Campaign  Organisation, James Abiodun Faleke, assured the groups of government’s support.

    “If you show your support to us openly, there’s nothing you will not get in the state; you will be part of the government.”

  • Obasanjo: Lagos PDP elders blast George

    Obasanjo: Lagos PDP elders blast George

    Elders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State have blasted a party chieftain, Chief Olabode George, for his comments on former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    In a statement by Prof Tunde Olayinka, the elders said: “Whilst we are shocked at Chief Obasanjo’s action since an elder statesman is expected to be politically matured, we condemn in totality the words of Bode George, who called the former President an ingrate.

    “Bode George is the ingrate not Obasanjo. He lacks the moral right to insult the PDP’s National Leader, his benefactor and former godfather.

    “The Yoruba have a saying that a river that forgets its source will dry up forever. Obasanjo made Bode George who he is today.

    “We want to recall that Bode George met us in PDP. He did not attend the April 1999  Jos convention, which delivered Obasanjo.

    “When Bode George joined the PDP, he was not recognised. At that time, Sarunmi was the PDP arrowhead in Lagos.

    “At the PDP Congress in October 1999 held at 1, Akilo Street, Ikeja, Obasanjo sent a directive to the delegates that Bode George should be imposed as the National Vice Chairman (Southwest) and Alhaji Murtala Ashorobi should be the Lagos State Chairman.

    Sarunmi became a minister at the time and Obasanjo told everybody that Bode George was his eyes and ears and anybody who did not want him should leave the PDP.

    “Had he risen through the party hierarchy as required, he would not disrespect or misunderstand democratic norms.

    “He presides over the Lagos PDP affairs with military precision.

    “Why does Bode George try to play god all the time? He has deceived Jonathan and is still deceiving him.

    “Bode George is not our arrowhead and we reject him as a leader. He does not represent our views.

    “He is a beneficiary of the crisis between Obasanjo and Jonathan so he should stop fanning the embers of discord.”

  • Lawmaker petitions IG on threat to life

    Lawmaker petitions IG on threat to life

    A member of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Temitope Olatoye, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abbah, asking for protection against attack by his opponents.

    In the letter dated February 13, signed by counsel to the lawmaker, Ikeh Sunday of Chief Ladosu Ladapo (SAN) and Co, it was alleged that Olatoye, an All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives candidate and his supporters were being provoked by members of a rival party.

    The letter said after the tactics failed, attempts were made on his life, and  a siege to his property in Ibadan.

    Efforts to get the reaction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Yinka Taiwo, failed, as his phone was switched off.

  • Court rejects PDP’s application to void Osun poll

    The Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, has dismissed the application by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking an order to nullify the elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Osun State, in April 2011.

    Justice Babs Kuewumi dismissed the application yesterday in a ruling he read based on the application by the PDP.

    The PDP sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and former Resident Electoral Commissioner Rufus Akeju, asking for a reversal of all actions taken by Akeju, following a March 28, 2011, order by the court, which restrained him from conducting the 2011 National Assembly and House of Assembly elections.

    INEC conducted the April 2011 polls and all the seats were won by the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The PDP, represented by Moses Ojo, sought four reliefs: a reversal of all steps taken by the first defendant and second defendant; an order to declare the National Assembly and House of Assembly elections null; an order directing INEC to withdraw the certificate of return given to the winners and an order compelling INEC to conduct by-elections to fill the seats.

    But Justice Kuewumi held that “only election petitions tribunal can give such orders. The application is hereby dismissed”.

    INEC’s counsel Mrs. Faith Okoli hailed the ruling, describing it as erudite.

    Although PDP counsel Kehinde Adesiyan thanked the judge for the ruling, he said the party would appeal the ruling.

    Adesiyan said: “There was an order of this same court on March 28, 2011, which restrained Akeju from conducting the April 2011 elections but he went ahead and violated the order.

    “The court did not say anything on this but it is so clear that the order was disrespected. We will test the rulings, we will challenge it before the Court of Appeal.

    “The sanctity and sacredness of the judiciary must be respected, Akeju violated the order of the same court.

    “It was a pre-election matter and the election petitions tribunal has no power to hear pre-election matters. So we will challenge it.”

  • Adamawa PDP splits over plot to bring back Fintiri

    Barely five weeks to the elections, tension has overwhelmed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over alleged plot to sack Governor Bala James Ngilari and reinstate the former Acting Governor, Umar Fintiri, through the court.

    Ngilari, a former deputy governor to the impeached Governor Murtala Nyako, was declared the substantive governor on October 8 last year by a Federal High Court presided over by Justice Adeniyi Ademola.

    But Fintiri went to the Court of Appeal to challenge his removal and seek reinstatement.

    The apex court asked the parties to submit written addresses by March 3.

    Some forces  in PDP were, however, unhappy with Ngilari for not whole-heartedly backing the party’s governorship candidate, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

    The forces discovered through intelligence that the governor had been allegedly supporting the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Marcus Gundiri.

    It was learnt that the forces, including some in the presidency, were disturbed that Ngilari was allegedly promoting Christianity agenda for Gundiri in cahoot with a serving minister.

    It was gathered that although a reconciliation of all groups had been effected, signals showed that Ngilari might favour Gundiri more than Ribadu.

    It was alleged that Gundiri might be enjoying state funding of his party’s campaign.

    The permutations by the PDP border on the need to settle the matter through the court by easing out Ngilari.

    Investigation showed that the forces at work were more at home with the reinstatement of Fintiri, who has learnt his lessons by dumping his aspiration for any elective office.

    The massive turnout of Fintiri’s supporters at the presidential rally was said to have convinced anti-Ngilari forces that Fintiri, who is the Speaker of the House of Assembly, is an electoral asset.

    The campaign was allegedly used to test the waters for Fintiri.

    A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Adamawa is back in the news. Some forces are just uncomfortable with Ngilari, who is being accused of anti-party activities.

    “They are alleging that the governor is surreptitiously supporting Gundiri, a Christian, instead of the PDP candidate, Mallam Ribadu.

    “Ribadu’s camp has bent forward and backward to accommodate the governor with a senatorial ticket, but the Ngilari group is adamant on Gundiri.

    “So, there is a plot to give Ngilari what is now known in the Northeast as “Taraba treatment”, which led to the ouster of the former Acting Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba Umar, by the court.

    “This has created tension,  because Christians in Adamawa may engage in block voting against Ribadu.

    “But the forces behind the plot believe that Fintiri is more popular in Adamawa North Senatorial District than Ngilari. They said irrespective of religion, Fintiri may win Christian votes for PDP.”

    Another source said: “There is anxiety in the state that some forces were bent on removing the Christian governor through judicial ambush.

    “Their grouse is that Ngilari has not been loyal to the party at all. But some PDP leaders said it is better to ask the presidency to call Ngilari to order than creating another crisis, which may favour the opposition.

    “We are in a delicate situation where neither PDP nor SDP will win the election if Ngilari is sacked.