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Tag: PDP

  • Abia 2015: PDP inaugurates congress committee

    The Abia State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has inaugurated an 11-man congress committee to elect ad hoc delegates for the governorship primaries slated for November 29.

    Inaugurating the members at the party secretariat in Umuahia, the PDP Chairman, Senator Emma Nwaka, said the party adopted “Option  A4” for the coming primaries.

    He said delegates would line up behind the aspirants, stressing that the party believed the primary election would be transparent.

    Nwaka said the inauguration of the congress committee is the responsibility of the state leadership, while the national leadership would appoint the committee for the primaries.

    The Abia PDP chief said three ad hoc delegates would be produced to represent each of the 184 wards for the governorship primaries, while a delegate per local government would also be elected to participate in the presidential primaries.

    He said the 552 ad hoc delegates would join the statutory delegates to elect the party’s standard-bearer in the governorship election, and enjoined committee members to be objective in the discharge of their assignment.

    Nwaka reiterated the commitment of the party leadership to the principles of internal democracy and due process, assuring that aspirants would be given an equal opportunity.

  • Bad roads: PDP committee to invite Works minister

    The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and leader of the party’s Publicity and Evaluation Committee, Mr. Olisa Metu, has said the committee would invite Works Minister Mike Onolememe to revisit federal roads in Aba.

    He said besides revisiting the roads, which are in a deplorable condition, there was need for the minister to intervene in federal roads in the Southeast.

    Speaking with reporters in Umuahia after inspecting projects by the Governor Theodore Orji administration, Metu said although some of the federal roads are under reconstruction, more work needs to be done.

    He said the quality of work they have seen is of high standard and worthy of emulation, adding that they never expected less from a PDP government, which had given the country 15 years of achievements.

    Metu said: “During our tour of Abia State, we saw the diagnostics centre, dialysis centre and eye and heart centres, which people in the state and outside have been accessing.

    “We also saw the new international conference centre, which is the best in the zone and number three in the country, the secretariat and the e-library, the only one in the Southeast.

    “We cannot stop talking about the e- documentation and the Joint Allocation Committee Building, as well as the Ohobo Housing Estate and other estates and the Ohiya Power Station.

    “In all the things we saw, we are happy to report that our PDP governors have been doing well. We are happy with the Orji administration for its achievements.”

    He said based on the things they saw, there was a media war against the government “because the things the governor has done have not been reported by the media.”

  • Obasanjo to PDP: drug baron can’t be my leader

    Obasanjo to PDP: drug baron can’t be my leader

    Ex-president shuns party’s peace talks

    Kashamu: I’m not wanted in U.S.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo rejected yesterday the peace moves by his party’s leadership, saying he cannot be in the same group with “a drug baron” wanted in the United States.

    He urged President Goodluck Jonathan and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders to do the “needful” instead of begging him for forgiveness.

    Said Obasanjo “Today, Nigeria needs all hands on deck to deal with our pressing problems of security, including the issue of Chibok girls, widening inequality, infrastructure, impunity, corruption, poverty and youth education, skill acquisition, empowerment and employment.

    “These are issues of concern to most Nigerians.  We all need to join hands to move Nigeria forward.  I don’t need to be begged for that.

    “Rather, I beg and appeal to those who are begging me to realise that we must put Nigeria’s interest above politics – party or personal – otherwise, we will all be judged at the bar of history if not the bar of current affairs.

    “In addition, we must preserve, sustain and deepen democracy and democratic practices.”

    The former leader insisted that he had never left the party and would remain a card-carrying member, having ruled the country for two terms on its ticket.

    Obasanjo, who returned from a trip to South Africa at the weekend, made his position known in a statement in Abeokuta yesterday.

    He was reacting to last week’s statement by PDP National Chairman Adamu Mua’zu and other leaders when they were welcoming back into the fold former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel.

    Mu’azu had said: “I want to join Governor Daniel to appeal to our Baba, President Olusegun Obasanjo, to forgive us. We are your children and we have been making mistakes; we have made mistakes and so we apologise.

    “Please, Baba, we apologise; come and lead us. Even the President (Jonathan) is waiting for you to come and lead us; you are our leader, we appreciate you, we thank you for your leadership and your courage.”

    The former Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, who was in South Africa over South Sudan’s increasing insecurity and violence, said  he almost cut short his stay there following “the avalanche of news, cacophony of appeals and pleadings from some quarters of PDP”, which he described as evidential manifestation of “misunderstanding and misrepresentation” of facts.

    Obasanjo, who added that he had occasion to make his stand on vital matters affecting the party known to Jonathan, Senate President David Mark, who recently visited him on behalf of the party.

    Obasanjo said issues of principle, morality, honour, integrity, commitment and character are to him paramount. He said he could not “accept that the zonal leader of my political party and, worse still in my zone, will be an indicted drug baron wanted in America.”

    He went on: “During last week when I was in South Africa as the Chairman of African Union (AU) Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan and while with my fellow Commissioners, we were deliberating on how to help that new country (South Sudan) out of its problem of security and violence, I received an avalanche of news and cacophony of appeals and pleadings from some quarters of PDP leadership.

    “Talking of inviting me back to PDP is wrong and it is a great misrepresentation as I have never left the PDP and I will never leave the PDP.

    “I have said it before and I will say it again, I rose to become the President of Nigeria on the platform of PDP and for that reason alone, I will remain a card-carrying and ward-active member of PDP for as long as I have to be a political party member.

    “Secondly, nobody has personally offended me as a result of my membership of PDP.  If, however, anybody or group feels offended by my continued membership, I will offer an unreserved apology but continue to remain in the Party.

    “I have had occasions to say to the President, the Senate President and the Party Chairman separately that I have no quarrel with any individual or group in the Party.  There are, for me, issues of principle, morality, honour, integrity, commitment and character, which are paramount.

    “For instance, as a former President of Nigeria, the Chairman of West Africa Commission on Drug and a member of Global Commission on Drug, I cannot accept that the Zonal leader of my political Party and, worse still in my zone, will be an indicted drug baron wanted in America.

    “How do I explain that to friends outside Nigeria?  This is only one of the many issues that I have pointed and still pointing out.

    “I have national and international standard to maintain and reputation to keep and sustain.  For these reasons, I opted to remain active only at the ward level of the Party till the leadership does the needful.

    “But under no condition will my commitment to Nigeria be diminished.  And, for me, it is commitment to Nigeria first and any other commitment can only follow in second or third place. Where any other commitment is in tandem with what I see and understand as commitment to Nigeria, such other commitment will share a pride of place with Nigeria.

    “I must hasten to thank the President, the Senate President and the Chairman of PDP with whom, at their instances, these issues have been discussed and laid to rest.  My interest and commitment to Nigeria go beyond partisan politics.”

  • PDP congress: Senator decries Alao-Akala’s tearing of ballot papers

    PDP congress: Senator decries Alao-Akala’s tearing of ballot papers

    •Filani protests illegal imposition of candidate

    Senate Deputy Whip Hosea Agboola has described the tearing of ballot papers by former Oyo State Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala at the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Southwest zonal congress as “a show of shame.”

    Agboola spoke in Ibadan at the weekend in reaction to the former governor’s alleged action and outbursts over the purported removal of the name of his candidate as a zonal youth leader at the party’s congress by “some forces that were against him.”

    The development nearly turned the congress, which was held last Saturday at the Apex Multipurpose Hall, Agodi in the state capital into a pandemonium when Alao-Akala expressed his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the election and angrily collected the ballot papers from the state’s delegates and tore them up.

    The former governor was shouting as he expressed his grieviance to the Chairman, Screening Committee of the congress, Senator Emmanuel Anozike and the financier and Chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP, Prince Buruji Kashamu.

    But speaking, Agboola denied playing a fast game on his former boss (Alao-Akala).

    He said: “I was casting my votes for aspirants of my choice when he emerged from my back and tore the ballot paper in my hand. It beats my imagination that a person of former governor’s status could resort to self-help in a matter as this.

    “His action caught me unawares because I never expected it and the truth was that we reasoned that since he, like some of us, was instrumental to the formation of the state executive under Yinka Taiwo’s leadership, there was the need for us to allow the Minister of State for FCT, Jumoke Akinjide, whose people were not included in the state executive, to present the candidate for the office of the party’s zonal youth leader, to give them sense of belonging.

    “The party is bigger than everyone of us and as for me, we should eschew bitterness and unhealthy rivalry if we genuinely have the interest of our party at heart. It is high time all of us joined President Goodluck Jonathan in his transformation agenda beyond 2015. And that is what we have been doing with Senator Folarin and Hon. Muraina Ajibola among others in the last few weeks.”

    The congress would have turned violent if not for the quick intervention of the Ekiti State governor-elect, Mr. Ayo Fayose and Kashamu, who pacified Alao-Akala and later called a meeting to resolve the issue.

    The Southwest Caretaker Committee Chairman of the PDP, Chief Ishola Filani also protested the imposition of a late aspirant at the congress.

    Filani, who appeared briefly at the venue, presented his protest letter to the chairman of the congress committee.

    He also copied the party’s national chairman; the chairman, Board of Trustees, Chief of Staff to the President, Governor Segun Mimiko, Governor-elect of Ekiti State Mr. Ayo Fayose and the party’s Board of Trustees in the zone through Chief Olabode George.

    The aggrieved PDP chieftain noted that till last Thursday, he was the only aspirant contesting the National vice-chairman Southwest.

    But some undisclosed forces imposed the present the Chairman of PDP in Ekiti State, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, against him, which he said, was a breach of the party’s constitution.

  • Osun APC to PDP: produce verdict nullifying legislators’ election

    Osun APC to PDP: produce verdict nullifying legislators’ election

    Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to produce a certified true copy (CTC) of the pronouncement of the Federal Court of Appeal, which sat in Akure last week and nullified the elections of federal and state legislators conducted by Rufus Akeju in 2011.

    The party said until the PDP can produce the CTC, Nigerians and Osun people should discountenance the party’s claim that the court had nullified the elections.

    APC Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement, said there was “no such declaration by any court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” adding that what the PDP has fed the public “is not only a misinformation, it is a blatant lie.”

    The APC stated as follows:

    “Before the 2011 election was held, the PDP went to the Federal High Court, Osogbo to stop Amb. Akeju, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, from supervising the said election on the allegation that the commissioner was allegedly a card-carrying member of the ACN (now APC) and a close associate of Senator  Bola Tinubu, APC National Leader.

    “The Osogbo Federal High Court granted the PDP an interlocutory injunction restraining Akeju  from supervising  the conduct of the election, but refused the prayer that INEC be restrained from conducting the election. However INEC immediately appealed and obtained a stay of execution of that ruling pending the determination of its appeal.

    “Curiously, while the appeal was pending, prior to the election, the PDP also went back to the same Osogbo Federal High Court. Against all known legal procedure to demand a stay of proceedings of the case it took to the High Court. So effectively, not only the INEC, but also the PDP stopped any further action on the substantive matter until the determination of the appeal in the Court of Appeal, Akure.

    “ The elections  held while the litigation was practically on hold.

    “After the elections (which the PDP lost woefully), they went to court –  not the Tribunal – to seek to nullify the election by bringing a fresh suit instead of the initial suit appealed against. The INEC promptly challenged the court jurisdiction to entertain the suit and the PDP on their own volition promptly withdrew the suit. “However, on the initial suit pending at the Federal High Court, which the PDP got an order for stay, ACN then applied to be  a joinder and the application was granted. But when other political parties sought similar joinder, the court rejected their application and they also immediately appealed that decision.

    “ So effectively, four different applications were before the courts – two in Osogbo and two at the Court of appeal, Akure. The appeal by INEC against the interlocutory injunction granted the PDP before proceedings were held up in Osogbo was the one determined on Friday in Akure.

    “ Our authentic information is that the court declared that the process of filing the appeal by INEC was defective, hence incompetent and was as a result struck out. “The Court of Appeal neither made pronouncement on the substantive suit, which is not before the Court of Appeal, but still pending in Osogbo, nor did it declare the elections  of 2011 ‘null and void’ (as the PDP is misleading Nigerians).

    “ As you read this, the PDP has a live case before the Federal High Court in Osogbo where it seeks the court to pronounce Amb. Akeju incompetent (because he is allegedly partisan) to conduct the 2011 election. That case has been put on hold by the PDP itself and until the party reopens the case, and get a pronouncement of ‘guilty as charged’, against Akeju, the Osun REC remains innocent. What Akure court did was to strike out a defective notice which can still be refiled.

    “The substantive case in which the PDP is seeking a court’s (not the Electoral Tribunal) pronouncement that the legislative elections of 2011 were allegedly null and void, has been withdrawn at the Federal High Court,  Osogbo. So, an Appeal Court cannot make a pronouncement on a matter that has not even  been heard or argued by the parties involved, at the High Court.

    “This completely exposes the stupidity of PDP’s claims that, by any warped implication, the Friday’s pronouncement by the Federal Court of Appeal in Akure has any direct or indirect bearing on the substantive case in Osogbo. The case is yet to be determined by the Federal High Court.”

    The APC therefore appealed to the public and the media “to be wary of information coming from the PDP and cross-check facts before arriving at conclusions or disseminating fallacies, which Osun PDP has become notorious of spreading.”

  • Akpabio advises PDP chairmen

    Akpabio advises PDP chairmen

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio has urged Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state chairmen not to take sides with government critics.

    Akpabio spoke while addressing Akwa Ibom people at the Ibom International Airport on his return from Abuja at the weekend.

    He said: “State chairmen of the PDP must regulate their duties effectively in which they were elected for and not to take sides with those who are bent on criticising the efforts of the present administration.”

    On the various criticisms by some PDP elders against his administration and the office of the state PDP chairman, Akpabio said: “The destiny of the state is in the hands of the youth and don’t look at those elders who want to bring disharmony into the state through tribal or ethnics sentiments, remember that the future belongs to you all.”

    The governor, accompanied by the state PDP Chairman, Paul Ekpo, said: “Some misinterpret it that I want the youth to be against the elders, but I can never incite the youth against elders.

    “I encourage the youth to respect them so that their lives can be long on earth but at the same time respect is reciprocal.

    “My administration has always respected and carried elders along.

    “We have also succeeded in giving a future to our children by touching them through education, health, agriculture, among others, so I assure the people of good governance for sustainable development and I must thank you all for supporting my administration.”

  • Lagos APC to PDP: you can’t say Fashola’s govt is bad democratic model

    Lagos APC to PDP: you can’t say Fashola’s govt is bad democratic model

    Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the allegation that Governor Raji Fashola-led government was a bad model of democratic governance as baseless and the biggest joke of the 21st century.

    The Lagos PDP, in a recent statement, accused Fashola-led administration of not showing signs that it was willing to conduct local governments’ election as the tenures of the office-holders end in October 29, 2014.

    But the APC, in a statement by its Director of  Publicity, Joe igbokwe, said: “Now, contrary to this bedtime stories of Lagos PDP, we want to make it clear that Lagos State government is prepared to conduct local government areas (LGA) elections as it has been doing in the past, when INEC concludes its delineation exercise in some states.

    “INEC is creating new wards and new polling units in some states, including Lagos and until it finalises that very important exercise, it may not be feasible to conduct LGA elections because we need to know the new wards and the new polling units before going to the polls”.

    It added:  “If the new voter cards and the new voters register are yet to be seen, please tell us how you can conduct elections. Once these structures are put in place, LASIEC will move into action.

    “Some PDP-controlled states have not conducted local government elections in the last eight years, but we are not PDP. We do the right thing, we follow the rules and we get results. However, if these issues are not resolved before the October deadline, Lagos State government may appoint caretaker committees to replace the outgoing LGA Chairmen.”

    On the allegation that the government officials are provoking PDP members by removing and destroying PDP signs, the APC said it must “be known that Lagos State has a Signage Agency called LAASA and if Lagos PDP wants its services, they know what to do. Advert agencies in Lagos know that it is not business as usual as LAASA has cleared the mess in Lagos and set up new standards for Outdoor Advertising.

    “Lagos State government has not provoked anybody or any group, but sometimes decisions are taken in the overall interest of 25 million Lagosians. Rather it is Lagos PDP that has been provoking Lagos APC.

    “We saw the provocation when a junior Minister in the Ministry of Defence, Senator Obanikoro, went with armed soldiers to Ilubirin Housing Estate to harass contractors building homes for Lagosians. We see this provocation when one of our leader on the island, Alhaji Azeez Asake, was brutally murdered by PDP thugs after their rallies at TBS. We see these provocations on a daily basis at old toll gate Lagos where Lagos PDP is training thugs for 2015 elections in the name of SURE-P. PDP is on the wrong side of history in Nigeria and the same history will remain our witness.”

  • Rivers PDP chairman’s aide, family escape assassins’ bulletsv

    Rivers PDP chairman’s aide, family escape assassins’ bulletsv

    BARELY 48 hours after leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Rivers State and thugs engaged in a free for all in Abuja, the Special Adviser, Media to the Rivers PDP Chairman, Jerry Needam, and members of his family, narrowly escaped assassins’ bullets in their Port Harcourt residence.

    The Thursday’s show of shame in Abuja took place at the national campaign office of the PDP in Maitama, Abuja, with the thugs, who used dangerous weapons, beating and injuring some leaders of the party from Rivers State, who were opposed to the governorship ambition of the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike.

    The Rivers Chairman of the PDP, Chief Felix Obuah, however, claimed that Wike did not sponsor the thugs, while declaring that there would be no entry into the PDP through the back door, while urging the members of the party to be law abiding.

    Shortly after the Abuja fracas, Needam issued a press statement on behalf of Obuah and the Rivers PDP, describing the aggrieved leaders of the PDP as “known and expelled members of the party.”

    Needam, an indigene of Kono-Ogoni in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers state, is also at the forefront of the mobilisation to ensure that Wike emerges as the governorship candidate of the PDP, not minding the fact that the Minister of State for Education and Governor Rotimi Amaechi are Ikwerre.

    The anti-Wike PDP leaders, including Lolo Ibieneye, Prof. Israel Owate, Anabs Sara-Igbe, Tabotamuno Dick, Dr. Sowaribi Tolofari and Chief Bekinbo Soberekon, who were to meet with members of the party’s National Integration Committee, South-South zone, led by Prof. Iya Abubakar, before the attack, are clamouring for zoning of governorship in Rivers.

    In a telephone interview last night, Needam said: “As tension builds up ahead of the 2015 elections, my family members and I escaped death between 4 am and 5 am today (yesterday), as four gunmen stormed our residence in Woji, Port Harcourt.

    “The gunmen gained entrance into my premises. Only my gateman was injured. He was tied hands back and locked inside the gate house. Police were invited and they arrived after the gunmen had left in a speed boat. My house is close to the Woji River.

    “My wife, my first son, two daughters, my elder sister, two of my wife’s siblings and my three-month-old son were with me in the house when the gunmen invaded. Everybody is okay, but under tension. My gateman is being attended to in a private hospital in Port Harcourt.

    “The matter has been reported officially to the police. It may be connected to the political activities and tension building up in Rivers State.”

    The Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muhammad Kidaya Ahmad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who confirmed the incident, said no arrest had been made yet.

  • PDP thugs attack Edo officials

    PDP thugs attack Edo officials

    Thugs loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party nearly disrupted the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to Edo State yesterday for the foundation laying of a $1 billion (about N165 billion) Azura Gas-powered Independent Power Project in Benin City.

    The thugs, led by a man identified as Shaba, physically assaulted some senior officials of the Edo State Government, including the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Julius Ihonvbere; the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Hon Patrick Obahiagbon; Edo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon Anselm Ojezua and some commissioners.

    The President’s visit, which was meant to show solidarity with the Edo State Government led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for attracting such a huge investment to the state and the country, was temporarily hijacked by PDP thugs who stormed the airport in large numbers chanting anti-Oshiomhole songs.

    Displaying the posters of some PDP aspirants and placards that bore various inscriptions, the thugs disrupted activities at the airport for several minutes as a combined team of soldiers and policemen had a hectic time controlling them.

    However, some PDP men who were also at the airport to receive the President, including the state chairman of the party, Mr Dan Orbih; suspended Deputy Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mr Fstus Ebea and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu were left untouched but did nothing to rein in the thugs.

    Soldiers had to be mobilised from the nearby Air Force base and they quickly took charge, dislodging the thugs from the airport before the President’s plane touched down at 10:42 am.

    The President was received at the Airport by Governor Oshiomhole and they both flew in the President’s helicopter to the venue of the foundation-laying ceremony.

    It was the second time the President would visit Edo State in two weeks, having attended a PDP South-South rally held in Benin City on September 27.

    Meanwhile, President  Jonathan yesterday flagged-off the first phase of the $1billion Azura-Edo Power Plant in Ihovbor/Orior Odemwende communities of Edo State.

    At the occasion, he called on the various communities in the country who are hosts to several federal, state and private sector projects to play their roles, stressing that there is development in partnership.

    The President said the Federal Government would continue to ensure that the growth of the electricity industry becomes self-sustaining and sustainable.

    He said: ”I want to use this opportunity to call on all the local communities around the country who are hosts to several federal, state and even private sector projects that have been hindered by communal disruptions, to recognise that in partnership there is development and so, everyone must play their roles.

    “My administration is fully committed to continuously improving the framework and enabling environment based on sound policy formulation, access to long-term low interest finance and transparent and consistent regulatory guidelines.”

    The President said he was greatly encouraged at the progress made so far towards reforming the power sector since the launch of the Road Map on Power Sector Reform back in August 26, 2010.

    According to him, the flag-off of the project is the first signal from the global financial industry that the years the federal government has dedicated to the reform of the power sector is finally yielding results.

    The Azura project, he said, demonstrates that “we have laid a strong foundation on which we are building a sound and sustainable electricity industry, with great expectations for robust growth in the sector.”

    Stressing that success in any endeavour does not happen by accident, he said that it is facilitated by sound decisions, conscious effort and immense persistence.

    According to him, government is committed to irreversibly repositioning the Nigerian power sector as a pivot for the attainment of the nation’s developmental targets.

    “We are also maintaining our policy push for increased diversification of our energy, expanding investments in large hydro power projects through public-private partnerships, and the provision of necessary support to accelerate the exploitation of our coal resources,” he said.

    He charged the project’s sponsors and their contractors to ensure that the estimated completion date of early 2017 is met, adding that he was eagerly looking forward to when the Azura IPP begins to supply power to the national grid.

    In his remarks, the Edo State Governor,  Adams Oshiomhole, said the financial support received by the investors from the international finance community confirms that Nigeria still remains an investment haven.

    He said Jonathan had been able to foster the required confidence for investors to participate in the sector, though the privatisation of the power sector has been on since 1999.

    Oshiomhole noted that the success recorded by the Jonathan administration in its power reform has further shown that government works better with synergy and collaboration between federal, states, ministries and other government agencies.

    The Minister of Power, Chinedu Nebo, had earlier disclosed that the flag-off was a testimony to the inter-ministerial collaboration between the ministries of power, petroleum, finance, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other agencies of government.

    The Co-Managing Director of Azura West Africa, David Ladipo, said that the project would create 1000 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs during its construction, assuring that Azura would continue to be a key driver in the power industry to ensure an increase the nation’s total grid-based power generation capacity for a long time to come.

    The first phase of the Azura-Edo IPP is a 450 MW green field, open cycle gas turbine power station, with a total capital cost of $735 million. It represents the first phase of a 1,500 MW power plant facility.

    It is the first fully financed private sector power plant project. It is also the first power generation project to receive the World Bank Partial Risk Guarantee and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) support.

    The IPP project, a 450 megawatts of new generation capacity, which is expected to be completed by early 2017, has attracted almost a billion dollars, mainly in foreign direct investment, into the power sector; comprised of $700 million in construction of the power plant, and $300 million in associated gas supply infrastructure.

  • Ondo lawmakers dump LP for PDP

    Ondo lawmakers dump LP for PDP

    Members of the Ondo State House of Assembly have dumped the Labour Party (LP) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Their defection was announced yesterday after a letter signifying their intention to move to PDP was read at the plenary.

    But in a dramatic twist, one of the lawmakers, Gbenga Edema, did not join the defection train.

    Edema, a lawyer representing Ilaje Constituency 11, refused to sign the letter of intent read at the plenary.

    The other lawmakers stood up one after the other to renounce their membership of the LP – the platform on which they were voted by the electorate.

    The lawmakers said they decided to join the PDP after due consultation with the people of their constituencies.

    They also cited litigations pending before various courts as another reason for dumping the LP.

    Edema thereafter worked out of the Assembly when he was not called by the Speaker, Princess Jumoke Akindele, to give reasons for his action.

    With the defection, the House is now one-party parliament.