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Tag: PDP

  • Member’s illness stalls Osun tribunal sitting

    Member’s illness stalls Osun tribunal sitting

    The Osun State Election Petition Tribunal could not sit yesterday as one of its members fell ill.

    The attorneys were already seated when the court clerk announced that the tribunal would no longer sit as a member of the panel was ill.

    The tribunal, at its last sitting, had fixed yesterday to rule on an application by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

    But the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, argued that the objection must be heard at the pre-hearing stage in accordance with the law.

    Aregbesola’s counsel Akin Olujinmi (SAN) said yesterday that the petition against the August 9 governorship election would not scale through the pre-hearing stage if the preliminary objections were taken.

    He was reacting to the comment of the PDP’s deputy governorship candidate, Adejare Bello, who said his party would go as far as the Supreme Court.

    In an interview with reporters, Bello said it was only the Supreme Court that had the final say on whether or not Aregbesola won the election.

    Olunjinmi said Bello’s comment has shown that the petitioners knew the weakness of their petition.

    He said: “Saying that they want to go to Supreme Court shows that they know the weakness of their case, because I expect them to say at the beginning that they are very sure of their case.

    “That would be decided at the hearing, if we go to hearing, because if the objections are taken, I do not see the petition seeing the light of the day and that is why they are afraid of having the objections taken now.”

  • ‘No crisis in Ogun PDP’

    ‘No crisis in Ogun PDP’

    A senatorial aspirant from Ogun State has denied that there was crisis in the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Ms Temidayo Oriola, who was at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja yesterday to submit her nomination and expression of interest form, said there was no need to fear that returning members of the party would cause crisis.

    Oriola, who is contesting the Ogun East seat, said:”We know what it is like to be in the opposition in the last four years and we have learnt our lesson.

    “Returnees will not bring crisis. It is not new that people have left the party and returned. The returnees know what is happening; and they know that the time to forge ahead is now.”

     

  • Bayelsa: Senator, Rep hold parallel congresses

    Bayelsa: Senator, Rep hold parallel congresses

    There were indications yesterday that last Saturday’s ward congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State ended in protests and disagreement in some local governments.

    It was learnt that some senators and House of Representatives members held parallel congresses in their wards to counter moves by the government to deny them return tickets to their seats in 2015.

    Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, representing Bayelsa West, allegedly conducted a parallel congress in his ward headquarters at Ekeremor.

    A close associate of the senator confirmed the development.

    The source said the senator’s factional congress was valid, adding that it met the party’s requirements.

    The source, who spoke in confidence, stressed that the plans by the senator’s detractors did not work out.

    According to the source, it is not true that the result of the congress held by Lokpobiri’s group was voided by the acting chairman of PDP in the local government area, Chief Meeting Okpeke.

    “Okpeke is not a member of Lokpobiri’s ward. So, he has no business there and cannot dictate how the congress should be conducted,” the source said.

    Lokpobiri’s loyalists were said to have held their congress separately from the one organised by Governor Seriake Dickson’s loyalists.

    Besides Lokpobiri, the senator representing Bayelsa Central, Emmanuel Paulker, was said to have organised a separate congress in his ward’s headquarters at Opolo in Yenagoa.

    Paulker, a close associate of President Goodluck Jonathan, reportedly brought the materials for the congress from Abuja and conducted the exercise separately from the one by Dickson’s loyalists.

    At Ogbia, it was gathered that loyalists to Dickson shut out the senator representing Bayelsa East, Clever Ikisikpo.

    Also, the people of Okordia, Biseni and Zarama communities in Constituency III of Yenagoa Local Government Area were said to have protested the conduct of the congress.

    They alleged that some top politicians, led by a House of Assembly member, hijacked electoral materials for the congress.

    The people described the action as undemocratic and a contravention of the rules guiding the congress.

    They urged PDP’s leadership and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disregard a list of names of delegates from the constituency.

    The PDP Chairman in Ward 12, Mr. Talkwell Zidiga, and a youth leader of the party in the ward, said electoral materials were not brought to the area.

    Zidiga said party members assembled at the headquarters of their wards from 6am till 7pm and waited in vain for officers of the party and INEC officials.

     

    He said: “We appeal to Governor Dickson and the leadership of the PDP not to foist any list of delegates on us ahead of the primary election to decide the flag bearers of our party.”

    The people said attempts to select delegates through the back door would spell doom for the party in 2015 and 2016.

    The Chairman of the Community Development Committee (CDC) in Kalama, Mr. Ayebi Ebilade, described the conduct of the ward congress as unfortunate.

    He said it was incredible that politicians, who were given the people’s mandate, could trample on the wish of such people and disregard party rules.

    Ebilade said: “This is a rape on democracy…”

    The community leader, who spoke on behalf of 30 CDC chairmen and 30 youth presidents in the constituency, urged Dickson and the state PDP chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (retd.), to reschedule the congress.

    The congress appeal panel arrived in the state yesterday to hear complaints of aggrieved party members.

     

     

  • PDP, Mua’zu, Ihedioha plotting to reconvene House – Tambuwal

    PDP, Mua’zu, Ihedioha plotting to reconvene House – Tambuwal

    The House of Representatives’ Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party, its Chairman, Adamu Mua’zu and three others were plotting to reconvene the sitting of the House before December 3 to which it lawfully adjourned.

    Tambuwal stated that the planned reconvening of the House sitting was part of the plot by his former party and its leadership to forcefully remove him from office as Speaker and member of the House of Reps.

    He accused the PDP and Mu’azu of working with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, to carry out this plot

    These were contained in an affidavit supporting a motion ex-parte filed by Tambuwal before the Federal High Court, Abuja, in addition to the suit he and his new party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), filed on Friday.

    Respondents in the motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/800/2014, are the PDP, Mu’azu, House of Representatives, Ihedioha, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the AGF.

    “The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th defendants (PDP, Muazu, House of Reps, Deputy Speaker and the AGF) are planning to illegally and unconstitutionally reconvene the sitting of the 3rd defendant (House of Reps) before December 3, 2014, the date the sitting of the 3rd defendant was lawfully adjourned to, without following due process, for the sole purpose of discussing and perfecting the forceful removal of the 1st plaintiff before the case of the plaintiff is heard and determined,” Tambuwal said in the supporting affidavit deposed to on his behalf by one of his lawyers, Ejura Patience Ochimana.

    The Speaker also stated that the withdrawal of his security details on October 30 by the IGP was upon the prompting of the 1st to 4th respondents (PDP, Mu’azu, House of Representatives and Ihedioha).

     

  • ‘Jonathan, PDP can’t get 240 Reps for Speaker’s removal’

    ‘Jonathan, PDP can’t get 240 Reps for Speaker’s removal’

    The Senator representing the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Magnus Abe, has said President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would not be able to get 240 of the 360 members in the House of Representatives to impeach the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.

    He also declared that with the taking over of Mubi in the Northeastern part by Boko Haram insurgents, Nigeria is clearly at war, with a competent president needed to tackle insecurity.

    Abe, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), spoke yesterday at his Bera-Ogoni hometown in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, while sensitising members of the executives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 17 wards, on the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) between November 7 and 9.

    He urged other PDP leaders and teeming supporters of Fili in the area to embrace change.

    Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), said: “As we speak now (yesterday), the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, the Number Four citizen of this country, has joined our party (APC). He left the other party (PDP) for the same reason that we left and other people are leaving.

    “People are coming to APC, because there is no justice there (in PDP) and there is no integrity in what they are doing.

    “There is no honesty. Nobody is abiding by the rules that we all agreed on. When you leave, they begin to chase after you.

    “As Alhaji Tambuwal left PDP, they withdrew his security. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear. You can become a Speaker of the House of Representatives, once you are a member of the House of Representatives.

    “Nobody in Nigeria, no power in Nigeria can get 240 members of the House of Representatives to say that Alhaji Tambuwal is not their Speaker. Nobody can do it”, he said.

  • Why I refused to rejoin PDP, by ex-commissioner

    Former Ondo State Commissioner for Finance Tayo Alasoadura  has explained why he refused to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Alasoadura, who spoke after picking his nomination form for the Ondo Central Senatorial District at the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat, said he decided to remain in APC because he did not see any sign that President Goodluck Jonathan meant well for the nation.

    He said: “When they visited me, we drank wine together and they began their approach by telling me why I should return to PDP.

    “When I asked them questions about the Jonathan administration, they could not answer.

    “I asked them how will I tell my loyalists that I am returning to a party that its government has failed to rescue our girls, who had been in captivity for the past 200 days.

    “How will I tell my people that I want to return to a party where corruption is celebrated and how can I rejoin a party that cannot account for $20billion?

    “I told them I will be excited if they can provide answers to these questions but they left my house quietly”

    The aspirant vowed to use his office to empower the people if he wins. “We are going to open constituency offices in the six local governments in the senatorial district, we are going to empower the people through that office and I am assuring you that I will always give account of my stewardship every three months, if elected.”

  • Ogun PDP to returnees: don’t foment trouble

    Ogun PDP to returnees: don’t foment trouble

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State has warned its members against “re-planting the seed of crisis and division in the party for the purpose of hijacking its structure”.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Waliu Oladipupo, the party said it was a “veteran of many political battles” in the state and has remained vigilant.

    The statement said: “The state executive committee has not been dissolved. Members are advised to ignore contrary information.

    “Any attempt to tinker with the party structures will not just be an invitation to avoidable lawlessness but also illegal, ultra vires and a direct affront on the judiciary.

    “It is hoped that those who are angling to sow the seeds of discord know the implications of their contrived plot.

    “If they think that they can ride on the back of one powerful man at the national headquarters to trample on the rule of law, we wish to serve them notice that we are ready for them.

    “The Ogun State PDP is a veteran of many political battles. We are not resting on our oars. For us, eternal vigilance is truly the price of freedom.

    “The Adebayo Dayo-led state exco is intact. As we have said severally, the Ogun State PDP exco is peculiar. The executives, from the ward to local government and state levels were not just elected at validly conducted congresses; they were refined through the crucibles of the party constitution and the laws of the land and endorsed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    “They were not just elected but validated by several judicial interventions and pronouncements from the High Court to the Appeal Court.

    “Therefore, given the peculiar circumstances of their emergence, any attempt to tinker with the party structures will not just be an invitation to avoidable lawlessness but also illegal, ultra vires and a direct affront on the judiciary.

    “Various courts, from Ilaro to Lagos and Abuja, and even INEC have since recognised the party structure in the state under the leadership of Adebayo Dayo.”

  • PDP congress held amid protests

    PDP congress held amid protests

    •Anyanwu kicks as Ihedioha, others hail exercise 

    The delegates congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was held on Saturday in Imo State amid protests.

    But House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, who participated in the exercise at Mbutu Ward in Aboh Mbaise Local Government, described the congress as peaceful.

    However, Senator Chris Anyanwu, a PDP governorship aspirant, who led her supporters in a protest against the alleged manipulation of the process by some chieftains, called for a fresh congress.

    The exercise was peaceful at most of the wards in the 27 local governments, besides reported cases of late arrival and diversion of materials, as well as minor clashes among supporters of governorship aspirants.

    At Ikenegbu Ward 1 in Owerri Municipal Council Area, aggrieved members  held the ward chairman hostage when it was discovered that the names of the supposed delegates were forwarded to the party leadership a day before the congress.

    In Ngor Okpala Local Government, the exercise could not hold in some wards, following the alleged removal of materials by the former council PDP chairman.

    An aggrieved member and a former Chief Press Secretary to the ex-Governor, Henry Ekpe, whose name was removed from the list of voters, said it was done to disenfranchise those who the party leaders felt would not work for one of the governorship aspirants.

    The situation was the same in Ideato South Local Government where the former state Chairman of the party and the National Chairman of the National Population Commission, Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN), was alleged to have insisted on producing the delegates.

    The Nation learnt that most of the governorship aspirants opposed the exercise because more than 80 per cent of those who emerged as winners were loyalists of Ihedioha.

  • 16 aggrieved Pdp governorship aspirants head to court

    16 aggrieved Pdp governorship aspirants head to court

    Sixteen aggrieved governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Rivers State, led by Lancelot Anyaya, are to seek redress in court on the ward congress of the party at the weekend.

    Spokesman of the aggrieved aspirants, Mr Soalabo West, explained that “to be clear, there were no elections in the various wards in Rivers State, even though attempts were later made at some secret locations to stage-manage what was a Grassroots Democratic Initiative (GDI) ward congresses”.

    West, who spoke last night in Port Harcourt, the state capital, said the sore points the aggrieved parties would table in court is that the five-man panel set up to conduct the ward congress did not show up at the party’s secretariat.

    He also alleged that the team went to the home of  a former minister, where they were lavishly entertained and wrote the results and concocted reports on Friday night”.

    According to him, the panel “surprisingly” returned to Abuja  same Saturday.

    The spokesman said the aggrieved aspirants  would tell the court that no electoral material was distributed at the various venues.

    He said this made party faithful to wait in vain.

    West added that in some cases, like in Asari Toru Local Government Area, some aspirants were allegedly attacked by GDI supporters.

    Listing the names of the five-man electoral panel and the Electoral Appeal Panel, which the national executive committee of the PDP set up for the state, West claimed that the people had personal relationships with former Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike.

    The spokesman said it would amount to a waste of time if the aggrieved aspirants tabled their grievances at the PDP appeal panel.

    West alleged that ward delegates, who bought forms for the exercise, were not allowed to return their forms at the PDP secretariat, despite  meeting the deadline to return the forms.

    The spokesman said the aggrieved aspirants would also tell the court that there had been fundamental breaches of the PDP constitution and guidelines, adding that the party failed to follow its constitution and due process in line with the constitution of executive committees in wards and local governments.

    One of the aspirants, Prince Tonye Princewill, faulted the exercise.

    He urged the PDP’s national executives “to avoid anything that will distract Mr. President and resolve the Rivers State issue, before it gets out of hand”.

    In a statement in Port Harcourt yesterday, Princewill said:  “The congress has already been done. The panel  has been settled and the electoral umpire has been compromised. All their planning was in vain. For them, the congress was just an opportunity for the masses to fight and destroy things. They do not care if Rivers people die, as long as they win. We do. We care; that’s why we steered clear.

    “The Wike-led PDP exco, does not realise that we are several steps ahead of them; none of the key aspirants was involved in the congresses. That should be a signal for the party. Our silence will speak louder than our words. In the end, PDP will either sit up and address this sham or it will lose us and lose Rivers State. Nothing is impossible.”

  • Balewa slams PDP for denying him form

    Balewa slams PDP for denying him form

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant Dr. Abdul Jhalil Tafawa Balewa has condemned the party’s failure to give him a nomination form after paying the stipulated N22 million.

    Explaining that the party’s officials had been “dribbling” him, Balewa told reporters in Bauchi State that he met with the PDP financial secretary, who told him to see the party’s treasurer, who also directed him to the National Chairman, Ahmadu Mu’azu.

    Balewa said: “They said only Mu’azu can approve a presidential candidate for the party. There is nothing like that in the PDP’s constitution that a chairman, and in this case an appointed chairman, is the only one that approves who gets a nomination form.

    “I paid N2 million as retention fee and N20 million for the nomination form. I have receipts and tellers for both payments. When are they going to give me my form?

    “We waited too long because the President was not forthcoming on whether he is running or not. I went to the party secretariat and asked for the form and they told me that they printed only one, but they did not reject the money; it is still with them.”

    Chairman of the Bauchi State Youth Movement for Democracy Philip Gumex said: “Whenever Balewa goes there to pick the form, it is one story or the other. There was a day we went there together and they took us from one office to another, only to say that the order for the release of the form should come from the national chairman.”