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Tag: PDP

  • PDP can’t win Sokoto, says ex-commissioner

    PDP can’t win Sokoto, says ex-commissioner

    Alhaji Dahiru Yabo, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Commissioner in Sokoto State, spoke with Managing Editor, Northern Operations, Yusuf Alli and Sanni Onogu in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) about the post-primary crisis in the chapter and why the governorship candidate, Ambassador Abdallah Wali, may lose the election. 

    What is the strength of the Sokoto State PDP, since Governor Aliyu Wamakko has left the party?

    You will only appreciate the strength of the PDP in the state, if you have the background of what has happened in the state politically.

    So ,what is the background?

    The background is that Wamakko as a person cannot claim to have any popularity in the state right from 2007 when he claimed to have won the election…

    Claimed to have won?

    Yes. He claimed to have won the election. I can tell you that Wamakko did not win the election, even in 2007, because at the time he joined the PDP, if the PDP did not have the capacity to win the election, he wouldn’t have joined it. He would have remained in his own party. But, because it was the PDP that had the capacity to win the elections, he accepted to join the party and even after joining the party he did not win the election. I was the Chief Returning Officer of the DPP at that time. Even, when they were doing the collation at the INEC, I was the person who protested after observing a lot of irregularities and rigging and the collation had to be suspended for it to be announced two-three hours later around 9.33pm, when there was nobody there, except his followers and journalists, and he was declared the winner. But, we thank God that a court of competent jurisdiction in Kaduna nullified that election because of irregularities and blatant procedural defects.Then, coupled with the antecedents of his stewardship, which is not in conformity with our moral grounds, Wamakko cannot claim to be popular in Sokoto. But, the problem is that he requires somebody who can give him the needed fight politically.

    Has the PDP gotten that person now?

    I don’t think so because the Sokoto State PDP has not gotten the right candidate to withstand the candidate of the All Progressives Congress. The PDP is now fielding the wrong candidate, in the person of Senator Abdallah Wali.

    Why are you saying that Senator Abdallah Wali is a wrong candidate?

    Certainly, he is a wrong candidate because, if you remember, he was a candidate in 2003 and he lost the election woefully. He lost the election because he was not a good candidate. From that time till now, I don’t see any value he has added to his political career. He was a senator, Senate Leader under the Obasanjo Administration, yet, he could not win the election against Bafarawa. Yes, with the support of Muktari Shagari, as very powerful minister that time.

    How did Wali pick the ticket, instead of the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Muktar Shagari?

    There was a repeat of technical mistake politically by the PDP. What happened in 2007 was the same scenario that is repeating itself today. The PDP had a very good candidate, but due to bad advice, they decided to shift, remove their candidate and put somebody, who is not their own, to become the candidate. But, thank God, those people who did that and who caused the problem have now come back to confess what they did and they did the confession individually and collectively. Recently, when Chief Tony Anenih, the Chairman of the PDP BOT chaired a reconciliation meeting in Sokoto with about seven or eight members of his committee, people stood up there to apologise for what they did that time and the person who came second in that election in the person of Ahmed Gusau was among the people who worked against Muktari that time. In fact, he was given the mandate to coordinate the substitution of Muktari with Aliyu Wamakko. Today, he is one of the front runners to make sure that Muktari becomes the candidate. But unfortunately for the second time, the PDP drifted by allowing somebody who intruded into the party to take a bonus of 50 per cent of the structure of the party.

    Who is this intruder you are referring to…

    That is Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, the former governor of Sokoto State, who was an ardent opponent of the PDP from the beginning and who wouldn’t have joined the PDP, if not because he was being pursued by Governor Aliyu Wamakko. He was pursued out of the APC to the PDP because he had lost grip of the party and that is a party he had dominated for over a year, only for it to be taken away from him within the first one week or two. So, if he has capacity, if he is influential, if he is a professor of politics as he calls himself, why didn’t he do it in the APC? Why couldn’t he do it in the ANPP? Why couldn’t he do it in the ACN? Can anybody tell me, if he had ever won election in his ward, which is Bafarawa village, since 2007 till date. So, this is same person that came into the party and was given 50 per cent of the structure and that already gave him ans undue advantage over any other person on the promise that he is just going to midwife among these candidates and that he is not going to have any preferred and that he is hoping to treat them equally. And all the aspirants were loyal to him. They all paid allegiance to him and on the premise that he is going to be fair to everybody. Thank God that when the Anenih Reconciliation Committee came to Sokoto, in the presence of everybody, I pointed it out, because I was privileged to  speak for 15 minutes, and I was able to tell the committee the problems and the reasons why we are having a sort of misunderstanding in the party. One of the reasons I gave them was that Bafarawa, being a leader in the party, somebody who has been given the structure of the party and somebody who had promised to help in coordinating the party had already taken sides by sporting Abdallah Wali. I said this in the presence of Bafarawa, Abdallah Wali and other people present at the meeting. I told them that the indicators were that the person that was made the chairman of the party, that is, Ibrahim Maigoma, had already started playing the posters of Wali in from of his house showing that this is where Bafarawa is and nobody could dispute that. So, if that has happened, then, whatever was the outcome of the primaries should not surprise anybody. Personally I am not surprised.

    Do you see the PDP putting up a good fight and winning the elections?

    Of course, they will win, but not with the wrong candidate. Definitely, we cannot get anywhere with Wali. Wali cannot win his local government under the present dispensation because, don’t forget that Aminu Waziri Tambuwal is now the governorship candidate of the APC. Aminu is an in-law to Wali. He is married to his younger sister. Aminu is from Tambuwal town, the headquarters of the local government. Wali is from Seyina. Even, the PDP congress we had ,his candidate could not win even within the PDP. So, when it comes to the general election, nobody in Sokoto can tell you that Wali can win against Aminu Waziri, even in Tambuwal Local Government. So, somebody as a gubernatorial candidate who cannot win an opposing candidate in your own local government then what is the guarantee that he can win anywhere. The reason is that Wali has no structure himself. He is relying on Bafarawa’s structure and Bafarawa, on his own merit, cannot win election in Sokoto. Bafarawa has already been intimidated by Wamakko. Wamakko seized the ANPP from him when he was a governor. For the second time, he has taken over the APC from him where he even put his own structure. So, what is that magic that he thinks he can perform now to win against Wamakko!

    Will the Sokoto PDP take the advantage of the extension of time granted by INEC for the submission of governorship candidates by political parties to make a change?

    One, after Wali was declared, there was a protest in Sokoto. The second ting is that Muktari Shagari was in Sokoto after the primaries because he came to Abuja and went back to Sokoto and the kind of reception he was given showed the direction of the people and their interest. The APC is happy that Wali was made the governorship candidate by the PDP and the simple reason is because they know he has no structure of his own. He relies on Bafarawa’s structure and, as far as as they are concerned, Bafarawa’s doesn’t have a structure of his own because, as a former governor of Sokoto State for eight years, among all the people that worked with him, both in terms of political appointments and party structure, he cannot count five prominent politicians. Let’s start with his deputy governor. He is not with him. His party chairman is not with him. Out of 14 of us that were his commissioners, only two are with him. Every other person has left him and the records are there. What was his performance in the ACN? What was his performance in the ANPP in the 2011 election? Why is it that he could not remain in APC? Even the person he nominated as a member of the national caretaker committee and that guy was his classmate, he was his very close friend and he was his political associate, Danmadami Isa has left and joined Wamakko. The three gubernatorial candidates that he anointed the one he anointed as a sitting governor under DPP who is Alhaji Maigari Dingiadi, who was his former SSG has joined Wamakko and this is the person who contested against Wamakko and who has been fighting Wamakko for seven years, but he has joined him.

  • Oron Nation threatens to shut down oil operations

    Oron Nation threatens to shut down oil operations

    The Oro Nation in Akwa Ibom State comprising of five oil producing Local Government Areas is not finding funny the zone’s exclusion from the governorship race by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) .  Last month, the peopleheld peaceful protests at Oron and Lagos.

    The Oron protest, which started from the Oro Development Union House, went through most of the major streets in Oron town with markets, shops and other businesses closed  by their owners for hours, to join the protest. Old men and women, Okada riders, taxi drivers and even pregnant women joined the protest. Everybody was in one accord and they were heard complaining of Oro nation being marginalised and deceived by the state government and the PDP.

    The Oro Nation, the third largest ethnic group and the third leg of the tripod on which Akwa Ibom State was created and stands, said the protest was an announcement to the state government and the PDP in the state and national, that they reject in totality the result of the’ stage managed’ governorship nomination of the state where about 95 percent of the votes were allocated to the governor’s candidate, Mr Udom Emmanuel.

    The ‘Save Oro Group Initiative” who initiated the protest said the Oro nation must produce the next governor of the state come 2015 despite the political permutations of the incumbent governor, Godswill Akpabio, otherwise the centre will no longer hold.

    They said they have waited for 27 years since the creation of the state, supported the other two ethnic groups, Ibibio and Annang to produce governors in turn and as such will not accept or support Mr Udom Gabriel Emmanuel as it is the Oros’ turn to produce a governor for the state.

    The youth leaders from the five local government areas which make-up the Oro Nation stated emphatically that the Oro people in the state totally reject the deliberate attempt by  Governor  Akpabio and the state PDP to rob them of the opportunity to produce the next governor for the state come 2015. The group said they stand by the decision of their elders that the Oro people ‘must’ produce the next governor of the state at the expiration of the incumbent Governor, Godswill Akpabio’s tenure May 2015.

    The Prime Minister of the’ Save Oro Group Initiative’, Prince Victor Uweh said the Oro people will not jettison their just demands and advised the party to do the right thing now for the sake of peace. He said the people should not be forced to go violent.

    “The Oro people supported the Ibibio of Uyo Senatorial District to produce Governor Victor Attah between 1999 to 2007; supported the Annang of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District to produce the incumbent governor, Godswill Akpabio,  2007 to 2015, it is logically the turn of Oro Nation to produce a governor in 2015, going by  the State’s ethnic  tripod arrangement “, Victor stated.

    At Uya Juncion in Eyo Abasi community, near the compound of Mr Nelson Effiong who was given the Senatorial ticket by the PDP, the protesters announced that Oro people are not interested in a senatorial seat but in producing a governor for the state come 2015. Mr Victor Awanakak, a former Counselor in Udung Uko Local Government Area said whoever collected a senatorial ticket from PDP is on his own. He said the Oros’ interest for now is to produce a governor for the state like her other two counterparts.

    He vowed that the Oro people will dump the PDP for APC if their demands are not met. “The Oro is not supporting Udom’s candidacy, we are insisting on producing a governor for the state come 2015. If PDP does not give us chance, we will pull out from PDP and fully support APC in the coming elections”, Victor said.

    Over 20 placards were carried with specific messages on them some of which were: If Oro is not allowed to take the governorship, we will block all oil wells; Oro 2015 or militancy; Oro Youths are ready for war; Oro will resist any attempt to deprive Oro of 2015;Oro 2015 is non-negotiable, on the tripod we stand; Oro must be heard; Ibibio and Annang have taken their turns, 2015 is Oro turn; we will fight on until Oro 2015 is restored; Oro contribute 80 percent of the revenue of Akwa Ibom; Godswill Akpabio – give Oro her right in 2015 and PDP should do justice for Oro governorship among others.

    The Oro nation also held a similar protest in Lagos. Armed with placards, banners and dressed in their native attires of red caps, uniformed wrappers, the young and old people of Oron nation last Friday morning stormed the premises of the Akwa Ibom Liaison Office in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    They were there for a peaceful protest against what they called the marginalisation of the Oron people in the governorship primaries of the state.

    On some of the placards was written: “Akpabio, stop forcing candidate on us”; “Akpabio, please give us the full benefits of our rights”, “Oron people say no to imposition”, “Akpabio return our mandate and don’t encourage hard feelings”, Oro nation needs 2015 governorship”, “Akpabio stop punishing us with our resources because Oron owns 80% of AkwaIbom resources and oil wells”, Akwa Ibom was created on  tripod”, “Don’t waste our resources anymore on your cronies”, “Akpabio retain the goodwill and support of all”, and “We need visionary and productive leadership devoid of greed”.

    Addressing the crowd of protesters and onlookers, President of Oron Lagos Branch, Mrs Felicia Essang-Oludare, she lamented that the Oron people have been pushed aside and have not been given a fair opportunity in the affairs of the state governance and rejected the outcome of the PDP governorship primaries which was held at the AkwaIbom International Stadium on December 8.

    She said it is the turn of the Oron people to occupy the governorship seat of Akwa Ibom.

    She said: “We own the oil wells in the state, yet we are not regarded in a favourable competition in the state. Henceforth, we will not allow our oil to be taken anymore because it is our turn and an Oron man is waiting to occupy the governorship seat next year.

    “No Oron man, no 2015, no governorship and that is our message.”

    Special Adviser to Governor Goodswill Akpabio on Media in Lagos, Jackson Udom thanked the gathering for the peaceful demonstration and promised to take their message to the appropriate authorities.

  • New Year, old issues

    New Year, old issues

    He was enraged. His email bore it all. Yet all I sought to do was a review of the developments in the Southsouth after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries. What angered him was my use of the words “answered prayers”. As far as this angry reader was concerned, the governors and (not God) answered their own prayers by foisting their candidates on the people.

    For my “wrong choice of words”, he labelled me an” enemy of democracy” and my article “shameful”.

    What the reader’s email shows is the emotion that is attached by the people, politicians and their supporters to the electoral process.

    Akwa Ibom, one of the places where the electoral process is generating interest, was the reason my reader got mad at me. Many, especially aspirants, are still getting mad at the choice of Mr Udom Emmanuel to fly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship flag. There are 22 of them, who are not happy about the manner Emmanuel was chosen. They say the primary was rigged. They petitioned the party’s national leadership and followed up with a court action.

    They got a relief when the court ordered that no candidate emanating from the disputed primaries should be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The court ruled that the case proper would be heard first week of January. By then, the deadline prescribed by the Electoral Act for the submission of candidates’ names would have lapsed. On this basis, the Emmanuel group approached the vacation judge. He saw reason and vacated the order. Now, his name is with INEC.

    Akwa Ibom is an interesting state. It tops the country’s Federal Allocation chart. What it gets from the 13 per cent derivation fund equals what other four states combined receive. Its politics, many will swear, generate so much hullaballoo just because it has so much cash. It is a place where the person in power can make or mar you.

    The outcome of a meeting between Governor Godswill Akpabio and the aggrieved aspirants last month further proves that power intoxicates. The way it started should have warned that nothing good would come out of it. Shouting match is the best way to describe how the meeting started. The shouting match was between Akpabio and an aspirant, Assam Assam, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. The duo used to be very close to the extent that they had seen the inner recess of each other’s homes. Akpabio even nominated Assam as ambassador. He also ironically wrote the petition which saw his recall.

    The governor, I heard, was really livid with the aspirant calling him names several times. He had uncharitable words to describe him and kept saying something like: “you are talking to your governor like that.” He also referred to his role in removing him as ambassador.

    The aspirant too would not let the governor have the final say. The duo kept giving it to each other. It was clear that each felt the other had betrayed their once shared bond. It was a tough job for the others to calm them down. So heated was the argument between the duo that the meeting which took place at the secretariat set up by the aggrieved aspirants in Abuja almost never got underway until about several minutes after Akpabio and his team, comprising ex-SSG Emmanuel and Senator Bob Effiong,  arrived.

    When frayed nerves were calmed, an opening prayer was said. Jesus was asked to come and moderate and take charge. Christian hyms were sung. The atmosphere at the secretariat could have been taken for a Redeemed Christian Church of God’s praise and worship session. The only difference is that there was no drumming or any form of instruments playing in the background. Clappings took the place of drumming.

    I was told the governor was the first to speak after the prayer and worship session. He was said to have pleaded with the aggrieved to let Emmanuel fly the flag. They allowed him take his time. At the end, they made sure his prayer received negative answer. One major plank on which they based their objection was that Emmanuel did not emerge in a contest agreeable to them. Emmanuel was said to have added salt to their injury by making an allusion which they considered as comparing himself to Jesus Christ, who was earlier rejected but turned out to be the messiah. They felt this did not show humility.

    After the deadlock, they put their rejection of Emmanuel on paper. The governor actually requested for it. They got it published in this newspaper some 24 hours after the meeting ended. Not only that, they also resolved to go on with the case in court hoping their prayer against Emmanuel is answered. They also demanded that President Goodluck Jonathan must be involved in efforts to bring the matter to a closure.

    Key among the reasons the 22 aspirants discredited the December 8 process include: the allegation that the delegate list was concocted by certain interests as there was no delegate election in the state;  that accreditation for the election was done inside the Government House and not at the venue; that agents of the 22 aspirants were not accredited, thus, they were denied  access to the election venue; that marked ballot papers were given to the purported delegates outside the venue to drop in the ballot boxes, and that the electoral panel was compromised.

    As the aspirants are awaiting Jonathan’s intervention, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is also trying to cash in on the situation and reap from the discord in the PDP. Its candidate, Umana Okon Umana, is said to have initiated moves to get the 22 on his side. So far, no concrete deal has been reached. The aggrieved aspirants have denied holding any talk with the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. But going by their denial statement, Patrick Ekpotu, Nsima Ekere—two ex-deputies to Akpabio— and the 20 others are not ruling out the possibility of talking with the opposition, if their party continues to ignore them.

    Umana, a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), joined the APC after the PDP national secretariat zoned him out of the race. It remains to be seen if Umana’s prayer will be answered by getting these men on his side and increasing his chances of taking over the Government House. I hear he needs all the muscle he can muster to defeat Akpabio’s man. He also needs to rein in ex-Minister James Akpanudoedehe, who, I understand, feels the ex-SSG hijacked his structure to get the APC ticket.

    So, this New Year, Akwa Ibom is still beset with old issues. How they are resolved will be closely watched.

    For me, two things are of paramount importance on this matter and they are my final takes. One, Akwa Ibom’s wealth has not really trickled down to the people. Forget the glitz on the beautiful streets of Uyo and other major towns, an average Akwa Ibom man still lives in abject poverty. Millions of them have not truly felt the state’s fabled wealth. So, my prayer is that this fight should be won by someone really out to serve the people. Anyone who will get there and be gallivanting all over with the common wealth will never get there. Two, in the interest of the state, I have another prayer: violence will play no role in resolving the ensuing fight. The sort of madness witnessed during the last governorship race will be alien to this dear state, which has truly transformed from its village-like look over the years.

    Happy New Year!

     

  • Jonathan has delivered on agriculture – PDP

    Jonathan has delivered on agriculture – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the unique intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan in agriculture has placed Nigeria on the sure path to food sufficiency, stressing that the administration has delivered in this critical sector.

    A statement issued on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said President Jonathan has strategically re-engineered this sector that has direct impact on the welfare of the citizens in line with the manifesto of the PDP and its avowed commitment to uplifting the living standard of Nigerians.

    The statement said: “In the last four years, the Jonathan administration repositioned agriculture from the traditional subsistence occupation to an investment-driven, wealth-creating sector that guarantees food security in the country.

    “Under President Jonathan, our country has through strategic partnership with the private sector, expanded food production by an additional 21 million metric tons between 2011 and 2014, a record exceeding the nation’s set target of 20 million metric tons set for 2015.

    “Between 2013 and July 2014, the nation’s food import bill declined by $5.3 billion and still falling, even with our increasing population. Within the same period, additional 9 million metric tons of food has been produced, while over 2.7 million farm jobs have been created. With all these, Nigeria now ranks as one of the biggest food producers in Africa.

    “Under President Jonathan, our country has met its Millennium Development Goal on agriculture and food production two years ahead of 2015 target set by the United Nations, thereby earning a special award by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

    “This feat was achieved by meticulous implementation of deliberate policies that empowered millions of our farmers and strategic investors with private sector investment rising to about $5.6billion.

    “For instance, encouraged by the Federal Government, the Dangote Group is investing $1billion in commercial rice production and processing, expected to raise Nigeria’s export capacity in the next five years.

    “Other entrepreneurs, including foreign firms are also investing in food production and processing following the favourable business environment provided by the government.

    “Under the present administration, Nigerian farmers enjoy bumper harvest as a result of benefits derived from special intervention initiatives such as the Nigerian Seed Venture Capital Fund as well as the deregulation of fertilizer distribution which has guaranteed direct access to fertilizers and other farm inputs by farmers.”

  • PDP is the problem of itself-Kalu

    PDP is the problem of itself-Kalu

    Former Abia state governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu on Thursday afternoon said that the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is the problem of itself.

    Speaking after a visit to the former military Head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida at his Uphill residence in Minna, Kalu said that the political terrain in the country after February election would never be the same.

  • Buhari: MEND blasts Metuh, PDP, IYC

    Buhari: MEND blasts Metuh, PDP, IYC

    … Denies link with APC

    The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has described recent attempt by the Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, to suggest a relationship between it and the All Progressives’ Congress as irresponsible and callous act.

    Metuh had on Wednesday while reacting to MEND’s announcement of support for the presidential candidate of the APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, demanded that the opposition party declared the nature of its relationship with the militant group, a query regarded by some as another attempt by the ruling party to frame the opposition and its presidential candidate as those in support of violence.

    The MEND, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, on Wednesday, also took a swipe at the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) for suggesting in a press statement by its spokesman, Eric Omare, that it was a ghost organisation, describing the youths’ body as “a mere tribal assembly and political praise singers.”

    The group wondered what happened within six months after the same IYC commended it for declaring a cease fire.

    But responding to the MEND’s statement, IYC’s spokesman, Omare, maintained his organisation’s position, pointing out that any group involved in guerrilla warfare can never be seen as having any electoral value, unlike the ex-militant leaders who recently expressed support for President Goodluck Jonathan.

    IYC said, “These are known men, whom you have always known in person and they held their meeting in Akwa Ibom State.

    “Who is Jomo Gbomo, let him come out and declare his support?”

    However, the MEND, which also encouraged Nigerians to disregard recent threats by some ex-militant leaders, who had declared their support for President Jonathan, denied any link or relationship with the APC, stating that its support for Buhari was because of his capabilities, measured against the failures so far witnessed under the Jonathan administration.

    “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) views the recent question and statement credited to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, as very callous and irresponsible. This question: “Explain your connections with MEND,” further confirms and vindicates our views about Goodluck Jonathan, his inept government and the PDP.

    “MEND strongly denies any links with the All Progressive Congress (APC) and has never been approached for anything, at any point in time, by the party, as pettily alleged by Olisa Metuh.

    “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) stands strongly by our endorsement and full support of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as the man to lead the country out of its present calamitous state in the hands of Goodluck Jonathan.

    “MEND finds it laughable the recent statement by Mr. Eric Omare, the Publicity Secretary of a mere tribal assembly and political praise singers, known as the Ijaw Youth Council, stating that ‘MEND is a ghost.’ We clearly understand their frustrations at our stance as it obviously came as a shock to them.

    “Nigerians should ask this man (Eric Omare), if he was referring to ‘ghosts’ when he lauded MEND for declaring a temporary ceasefire six months ago.

    “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) once more, urges Nigerians to ignore the empty threats of this so-called ‘ex-agitators’ and the Ijaw Youth Council. Their reckless utterances only ridicule and confirm the colossal failure of the ‘Amnesty Programme.’ We advise the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) to use their idle time in telling and showing Nigerians and Niger Deltans what the government of Goodluck Jonathan has done or achieved in Nigeria and the region in the last six years in office, apart from giving them handouts called ‘Monthly Stipends,” the statement said.

     

  • ‘Ondo PDP may not field candidates’

    ‘Ondo PDP may not field candidates’

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo State, Segun Agbaje, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may not field candidates for the House of Assembly elections.

    He spoke yesterday when he resumed work at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Akure, the state capital.

     Agbaje said: “Only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is having issues with the list of House of Assembly candidates for the election and there is a deadline for this but am sure it would be sorted out.

    “If it is not, what would happen is that PDP will not present candidates for the House of Assembly election. Our legal department will come together by looking into the various loopholes and if it is noticed the party has breached the Electoral Act, the normal sanction would be applied.”

    The REC said next month’s elections would be credible, if parties and their candidates play by the rules.

    He said the commission was prepared to conduct a credible poll with the assistance and cooperation of all stakeholders.

    Agbaje said: “We have not stopped distributing the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). Over 63 per cent success has been recorded. We hope that before the general election the commission would have achieved about 70 per cent collection.”

  • Danger as PDP gets desperate

    SIR: Nigerians should gird their loins for the danger ahead as PDP leaders get desperate over next month’s Presidential elections. There is total disquiet and confusion in the House of PDP as events of February draw near. A party that says it will rule Nigeria for 60years is now gasping for breath and fighting for survival. How are the mighty fallen? The House called PDP is giving way gradually, it is going down gradually, it is collapsing systematically and it is sinking slowly.

    In Port-Harcourt during the flag off candidate Buhari’s campaigns, one person was feared dead and many others seriously injured when armed youths shot at vehicles moving supporters of APC to the venue. In Lagos PDP has been training thugs and arming them for the task ahead. Across the country stories of arm build up and training of thugs are filtering into the ears.

    General Buhari of 2003, 2007 and 2011 is no longer the same Buhari in 2015. Buhari in 2015 has become dynamite, an explosive, a game changer, a fortress, a smoking gun, an avatar, the numero uno, the political bulldozer, the caterpillar. Machine gun, a hurricane and a colossus. To ignore the GMB massive movement now is to play to the gallery, to dismiss his build up now is to tell a lie to yourself, and to set aside his potentials now is to be economical with the truth. Calculations, equations, permutations have changed and they are turning almost 360 degrees. It is a complete turn around. The momentum is there. The speed is there, the dynamism is there and the force is there also.

    As things stand APC needs to wake up to device ways to protect its members and teeming supporters. The potentially dangerous elements in PDP and their agents have nothing to give Nigeria now except agonies, tears and blood. Having decimated and desecrated a promising country, PDP is now ready to give Nigerians serpents instead of fishes, stones instead of bread and urine instead of water. 

    Now, what do you do a cook who cannot cook well? You sack him. What do you do to a teacher who cannot teach well? You sack the teacher. What do you do to a President who cannot lead his country very well? You vote him out!

    APC is not PDP and it can never be. Unless you vote in APC and try them for at least four years, you cannot do an objective comparison between APC and PDP. APC stands for good governance, national security, economic development, human capital development, land and resources development, active foreign policy. APC will fight impunity and abuse of power. APC will fight political irresponsibility of wealth without work and politics without principles.

    We have shed enough blood in this country and God forbid that we should travel that road again. Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State is relying on the Military and the Police to remain in power. PDP and its drivers are relying also on the powers of the Army and Police to remain in power at all cost. Can these vital and strategic institutions afford to fail Nigerians again in this election?

    • Joe Igbokwe

    Lagos

  • ‘PDP has ruined Nigeria’

    ‘PDP has ruined Nigeria’

    All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, APC’s National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and other party bigwigs yesterday said they are confident of victory in the February 14 Presidential election and the February 28 governorship election in Akwa Ibom State.

    They told thousands of party faithful at the Uyo Township Stadium during the APC Presidential Campaign Rally and the presentation of APC’s flag to a former Secretary to the State Government, Umana Okon Umana, as the party’s governorship candidate.

    The party’s flag was presented to Umana by Odigie-Oyegun.

    Gen. Buhari lamented that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had succeeded in ruining Nigeria in the last 16 years.

    He said: “We have reached a stage where change has to come. PDP must go. Enough is enough.”

    Gen. Buhari also sounded a note of warning to corrupt leaders, saying they risk going to jail if they are caught stealing the country’s money.

    “From the day we come into power, anybody who steals Nigeria’s money will find himself in Kirikiri Maximum Prison. With the coming of APC, nobody will give them the opportunity to steal our money and invest it in another country.

    “This country needs to be secured. Imagine the abduction of 220 children eight months ago. I tried to find out how much we have lost in the last 16 years. The number of factories closed.

    “The number of jobs lost. This party, the PDP, has succeeded in ruining this country. We have a lot of work to do. Providing jobs and making sure a lot of infrastructure is put in place.

    “Also, imagine the number of troops deployed by the Federal government for Ekiti and Osun governorship elections. This shows the priority of the Federal Government. They want to acquire and maintain power by all means and denying the rest of us.”

    Amaechi, who was referred to as the lion of the Southsouth, opened his speech with worship songs, praising God, saying the forthcoming victory is all about God.

    He, however, reminded the Akwa Ibom people of the Biblical injunction that faith without work is dead.

    Amaechi, who was joined on the podium by former governors of Anambra and Zamfara states Dr. Chris Ngige and Alhaji Sani Yerimah – told the people that when he was running for governor, PDP used all its might, including the military, to hunt him but with a dint of hard work and fasting and prayers, God made him governor.

    He told the people that there are over 3.5 million young Nigerians who are out of school while several other millions have no gainful employment all because of PDP’s mis-governance and corruption in the last 16 years.

    He urged Akwa Ibom people to vote for Umana to ensure qualitative education and real development.

    APC’s Akwa Ibom State Chairman Dr. Amadu Attai assured Gen. Buhari that Akwa Ibom electorates were ready with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to vote APC in the February 14 Presidential election and other elections.

    He said APC had served PDP quit notice when Umana and other PDP bigwigs defected to APC.

    Umana said Akwa Ibom people were tired of “uncommon” propaganda by PDP-led government.

    Umana said: “I want to say that it is time for change. We have had enough of uncommon propaganda. I was Commissioner for Finance. I know that in eight years, the total revenue that accrued to this state was N450billion. That is the amount the current PDP administration receives in one year.

    “But have we added values for the trillions that are coming to this state? What we have had is uncommon propaganda. I will like to apologise to our distinguished guests who could not even find seats to sit in the VIP lounge of this state of uncommon propaganda.

    “It is time for the real change. It is time we ensured that we put an end to poverty and impunity. We have two parties today in Akwa Ibom state. We have Peoples Democratic Party which is the Akpabio Peoples Party and we have the All Progressives Congress which is the Akwa Peoples Party. So the choice is yours. We are tired of a situation where one man will act as if he is god; as if he is the one to appoint your governor. You are the one to elect your governor.”

    Ngige urged the people to vote Gen. Buhari as president and Umana as governor.

    Ngige said in the last 16 years of the PDP-led government, both at the centre and Akwa Ibom State, nothing much has changed inspite of the quantum of money that has come into the country and the state.

    He cited the Aba -Ikot Ekpene federal road that has remained a death trap for many years.

    He said APC was ready to give Nigerians the real leadership and development they have been yearning for all these years.

    Ngige recalled that when senators came for a retreat in the state, Governor Godswill Akpabio introduced Umana, then SSG, as the next governor and assured them that God will honour that declaration and make Umana governor.

    The wife of late governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mrs. Imo Isemin, said Gen. Buhari is the only person who can return the country to growth and honesty.

    She urged the people to vote Gen. Buhari and Umana.

    The former first Lady urged the women to get serious, get back to their units and start real work to bring the much needed change.

    The co-coordinator of Umana’s campaign, Mr. Sunny Udom said Umana is the only person who will bring about the much desired change in the state.

  • APC: PDP is paranoid over opinion poll

    APC: PDP is paranoid over opinion poll

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a victim of self-inflicted paranoia following its panic reaction to a yet-to-be conducted opinion poll, the All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday.

    APC’s National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who said this in a statement in Abuja, added that the PDP had only succeeded in committing an unforced error by its alleged frenzied reaction.

    The statement, however, noted that the PDP’s reaction was understandable, “considering the fact that the party is being pounded from all sides by both seen and unseen forces.”

    “The PDP”, according to the statement, “is behaving like a punch-drunk boxer, who started flailing at everything and everyone, but his opponent, having been disoriented by a staccato of body blows.”

    “Had it not been so, a party that is urging a focus on serious campaign issues would not have picked on the imaginary outcome of a public opinion poll,” the party added.

    APC said the PDP was not in a position to advise anyone on the conduct of opinion polls, when all it engaged in over the years had been doctored and incestuous opinion polls.

    The statement also reads: “It is said that he who must come to equity must come with clean hands. It is apparent that this dictum is lost on the petrified PDP. This is a party that has been celebrating the outcome of the regular polls by the NOI Polls, when it is glaring that the brain behind this poll is a key minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. NOI stands for the initials of this minister, and discerning Nigerians are aware of this.

    ‘’Because the NOI polls have been doctored to achieve a pre-determined end, the PDP made itself to believe it was doing well all along; when indeed it was leading Nigeria to a dark alley of economic and infrastructural collapse, massive unemployment as well as pervasive and unprecedented insecurity.

    ‘’Now that the die is cast and even the most ardent supporters of the PDP have realised that the game is up and are jumping off its sinking ship, the party has come to realise its folly. How then can such a party advise another party on how to conduct a public opinion poll?

    “Even without any poll, Nigerians have come to realise that the presidential candidate of the APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, stands head and shoulders above his PDP counterpart. Not only physically, but in terms of integrity, capability, vision, achievements and antecedents. Since these are the issues that will count during the forthcoming polls, the PDP can as well start learning how to be in opposition.”

    It flayed the PDP for casting aspersions on the integrity of the media by saying the APC is “intensifying efforts to compromise some section of the media.”

    “The PDP has consistently shown nothing, but disdain for the media, which was at the forefront of the fight for the democracy that the do-nothing folks at the PDP are now enjoying, undeservedly. If the media was so easy to compromise, it would have been compromised a long time ago and perhaps Nigeria would not have benefited from its selfless battle against military dictatorship.

    “This lesson is lost on the trifling PDP; hence it has continued to hold the media in disdain – the latest instance of which is the unnecessary accusation of its being compromised. Our honest advice to those who did nothing when the epic battle to install this democracy was going on, but are now pretending to be its custodians, is that they should not crash it on the altar of careless, inciting and offensive statements,” APC said.