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Adamawa: PDP ‘shops’ for Muslim candidate

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is “shopping” for a Muslim candidate to replace ex-Governor Murtala Nyako, who was impeached by the House of Assembly last week.

Going by emerging calculations, the party may have ruled out enthroning Nyako’s deputy, Bala Ngilari, a Christian from Adamawa North.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to conduct fresh governorship election within 90 days.

The PDP is working towards avoiding an election next year.

Major contenders include Senator Abubakar Girie, Dr. Ahmed Modibbo and Anwal Tukur, son of former PDP National Chairman Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

Others are Senator Bello Tukur, Dr. Umar Ardo, Brigadier-Gen. Buba Marwa, Jerry Kundusi, Markus Gundiri and Acting Governor Ahmadu Umar Fintiri.

It was, however, gathered that Ngilari may be brought back as deputy governorship candidate.

A party chieftain said: “From all indications, we have viewed the situation and we are convinced that for the state to have peace, we must work out an arrangement for a Muslim governor

“As it stands the party is looking at having a Muslim governor just as Ngilari is being considered to return to his former position. We are trying to avoid any use of sentiment against our party.”

July 21, 2014
PDP warns Ekiti Assembly over result of Ekiti Assembly on LCDAs

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State has urged the House of Assembly to disregard the results of the last Saturday’s referendum on the creation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).

The party, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, in Ado-Ekiti at the weekend, said the position arose from the fact that the Assembly had been served notice of the suit filed by it (the party) challenging the exercise.

The PDP added that the suit, filed on behalf of the party by its Chairman, Mr Makanjuola Ogundipe, was duly served on the Assembly and that the appropriate thing to do in line with the custom of a legislative body was to “stay action” on such matters.

“The proof of service on the Assembly is there and the Assembly leadership knows the right thing to do, stay action on any matter in court until such is determined by the court’

July 21, 2014
236 PDP members join Kwara APC

Two hundred and thirty six members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State.

The defectors attributed their decision to PDP leaders’ insensitivity to their plight.

The defectors, mostly youths from Ajanaku ward in Ilorin South Local Government Area claimed to be members of the Solidarity Oba Abu Youth Vanguard.

They were received by the Chairman, Local Government Service Commission, Alhaji Sulaiman Yusuf.

The defectors claimed that PDP “lacks organisation, team work, credibility and service to humanity”.

They lamented that the party leaders “lacks sincerity and do not have their interest at heart. They only make empty promises to gain popularity and followership among the youth of the community”.

The group’s Chairman, Usman Olaiya, explained that they have nothing to show for their support for PDP leaders.

Olaiya said: “They are so self-centred, they only want to benefit from us and care less about the situation of our group or the ward we represent.”

July 21, 2014
‘Jonathan, PDP not behind Nyako’s removal’

The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, has described the impeachment of the former Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, as an act of democracy.

Metuh said the impeachment was a constitution right granted the people of Adamawa State and it was exercised through the State House of Assembly’s members.

The PDP spokesperson, in a statement yesterday, added that the lawmakers “accorded rule of law and due process the rightful place in removing Nyako.”

Metuh added: “Therefore, allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) linking the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan to this are purely escapist and can only come from revisionists and reactionary forces.”

He added that it was unfortunate that the APC championing the rights of the people to choice of leadership was the same party turning against the constitutionally guaranteed right of the people to withdraw legitimacy through impeachment and recall.

The statement advised the APC to look inwards in finding answers to its woes and leave the PDP out of it, saying that “if a sitting governor who has spent over seven years in office could be removed by more than two-third of the members of his state assembly, reasons should be located to fundamental factors within rather than the trite excuses of external influence.

“While we state in no uncertain terms that neither the PDP as a party nor President Jonathan is remotely or otherwise connected to the impeachment in Adamawa or elsewhere, we also wish to ask the APC to locate the Sword of Damocles dangling in some of the states which they control to the expression of the collective will of the people against bad governance as the PDP believes strongly in separation of powers and the sanctity of the legislature.”

July 20, 2014
Mulikat Akande-Adeola and the Jonathan endorsement

LAST Monday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives took the fawning step of endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan for 2015. The Majority Leader, Hon Mulikat Akande-Adeola (PDP, Ogbomosho North), gleefully announced the caucus decision to the press after they met. “We are PDP caucus of the House of Representatives,” she said tersely. “A meeting like this is not strange because we met with the President who is our leader. We deliberated on issues affecting our party. The House caucus on our own decided to pass a vote of confidence (in) Mr. President and also endorse him for second term. We did the endorsement and we are urging him to run for second term.”

It is not clear why lawmakers representing different constituencies, and therefore different interests, could come together so casually to endorse a president just because they belonged to the same parliamentary caucus. Nor is it clear why they did so after knowing that their party and even the Electoral Act stipulated the procedure by which an aspirant could become the choice of his party. But perhaps the electorate will remember that this kind of endorsement harks back to the sycophantic days of the Gen Sani Abacha regime, when jobholders and other yes-men jumped over one another to curry favour from the head of state by endorsing him for transmutation from a military leader to a civilian president in breach of established procedures.

Already, many groups, some of them ethnic, and others political, have begun to curry the favour of the president by endorsing him for a post we all know he is eager to occupy for another four years. But few Nigerians least expect that that sort of endorsement would begin prominently in the House of Representatives, a lawmaking body expected, together with the Senate, to fiercely defend its independence and protect its integrity. But having made the endorsement and announced it with little shame, the Reps PDP caucus leaves everyone with the impression that they seek servilely and thoughtlessly to please the president and put him in their debt.

It is, however, not too surprising that the announcement of the endorsement was done by Hon Akande-Adeola. Recall that in 2011, President Jonathan backed her for the position of Speaker, after the party zoned the position to the Southwest. But Hon Aminu Tambuwal trounced her by 252 votes to 90 in a political manoeuvre deftly inspired by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The ACN, precursor of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had argued at the time that it was not in the interest of the country to elect President Jonathan’s candidate into that office, for it would dangerously compromise the independence of the legislature and undermine the health and integrity of the Fourth Republic.

Many critics, especially short-sighted politicians and analysts from the Southwest, thought ethnic solidarity was to be preferred over legislative independence and integrity, and had pilloried the ACN for thinking objectively and grandly in terms of the future and democracy. Well, finally, the ACN/APC has been proved right. With the Senate firmly conservative and pro-Jonathan, mostly unthinkingly so, dictatorship would have bloomed much earlier than it has. Had she been elected Speaker, and had she survived the unavoidable banana peels her ingratiating style might have fostered in the lower chamber, it would have been inconceivable that she would stand up to the Jonathan presidency or mould the Reps into the democratic bulwark it has become, let alone inspire the numerous investigations the lower chamber has conducted into the heists alleged against the government.

Imagine the horrendous disaster the country would be facing today with a Senate and Reps fully devoted to pleasing President Jonathan and massaging his increasingly autocratic ego. With an obstreperous House of Representatives, it has still been impossible to curb the president’s authoritarian fantasies, especially with the leeway granted him by a groveling Senate. The country must thank its stars that whenever the presidency loses its mind, and the Senate nods somnolently and absentmindedly in agreement, we still have an independent Reps to put the leash on the president, no matter how tenuous. It is up to us to defend the Reps against the massive assault on the lower chamber and its leadership by the Jonathan presidency, for it is clear that in their ranks, as we have seen of Hon Akande-Adeola, are many who cannot call their souls their own.

July 20, 2014
Ekiti holds referendum on new LCDAs

The Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) yesterday held a referendum on the creation of new 18 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).

Controversy had trailed the creation of the new LCDAs and the referendum, with the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kicking against the creation, while also calling on the people to shun the referendum.

The exercise, which held at designated primary schools in the 137 wards across the 12 affected local government areas, commenced at about 8 am with the registration of interested voters and ended at 4pm.

Describing the exercise as a huge success, Chairman of SIEC, Mrs. Cecilia Adelusi, noted that the turnout of the people for the exercise was an indication that the state government took the right decision to conduct the referendum.

She disclosed that there was a massive turnout in Iyin, Ogotun, Ikole, Iloro, Ifaki and other areas where the referendum took place, as people trooped out in large number, to vote.

The SIEC boss added, “However, there were areas where election did not take place. In places like Osi and Igbole, there was total blockage of the road, because the people there were protesting the choice of the headquarters.

“It is not our duty to look into such agitations, because we will still compute our results and send to the House of Assembly for ratification.”

Speaking with journalists in Ikere Ekiti, the Commissioner for Integration and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Funminiyi Afuye, said the people of the town were enthusiastic about the creation of an LCDA in the town, adding, “This must have informed the mammoth crowd that participated in this exercise (referendum).”

Journalists who monitored the exercise in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, noticed a fairly large turnout of people in all the designated centres in the 13 wards of the council.

At Ward 5, St. Michael’s Primary School, Ajilosun opposite Mobil Petrol Station, the turnout was quite impressive.

Despite the relative success of the exercise, opposition parties allegedly boycotted the exercise, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) describing the creation of the new LCDAs as placing hurdles on the path of the incoming government of governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose.

A few weeks ago, the PDP had gone to court seeking an injunction to restrain the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the State House of Assembly and SIEC from going ahead with the exercise.

Defending its boycott of the referendum, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the State, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, hinged its stance on what he described as “insincerity of the outgoing government in its approach to the creation of the councils.”

The PDP spokesperson noted that out of the 177 wards in the state, people in about 130 wards allegedly boycotted the exercise, while those who participated did so under duress and coercion from members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

July 20, 2014
Getting 2015 debate back on track

If one week is a long time in politics, then one month is an absolute life time. In the space of 30 days the All Progressives Congress (APC) which has in the last few months positioned itself as a credible alternative to the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), has had some wind knocked out of its sails.

In that time it lost Ekiti State in circumstances that can only be described as stunning and mystifying. It has had Adamawa State pinched from under its nose. But the fate that befell it in the latter has been one of the worst kept secrets in political circles. For ages the media has been reporting that at the right moment the PDP would move against ex-Governor Murtala Nyako.

The ruling party’s goal of recovering the ground lost to APC following the ‘New-PDP’ rebellion has moved on to the next stage with the impeachment notice served on Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura. It is also said to have Imo, Osun and Rivers States in its sights. Whether these states will meekly surrender as happened in Adamawa remains to be seen.

What is not in doubt is the fact that the ruling party members and some pundits would see the opposition reverses as a clear portent for PDP victory at the center in 2015. But that would be presumptuous, just as it would be foolish for the APC to start feeling sorry for itself. There is still so much to fight for going into the next general election. What we have witnessed so far are just skirmishes: there’s still the war to be won.

What needs to change if the opposition is going to prevail is a redefinition of the terms of engagement. Several months ago I wrote in this column that the APC needs to quickly move beyond celebrating the number of ruling party deserters joining its ranks, to highlighting the abysmal record of the Goodluck Jonathan regime, as well as setting out the alternative it offers.

Nigerian politicians are fickle. They will jump ship at the drop of a hat and not because of any deep principle. We have seen that play out with the shameless crisscrossing between the two camps by those who would offer as an excuse such inanities as: ‘Our people have always belonged to the ruling party.’

It is not surprising that where no principle is involved, it has been very easy to reverse the direction of defections in favour of the ruling party. The opposition has cried out that its ranks were being depleted by a desperate government using mindboggling sums as inducement. But did they expect a regime that has shown itself willing to use all means necessary to achieve its ends to play fair?

Those presently locked in a power struggle with the administration make several mistakes. First, they underrate Jonathan. He has shown that he’s no longer the timid, tentative player of the early years of his presidency; he is a wily operator who can play the power game with the masters.

Secondly, people underestimate the crowd that has the president’s ear. They fail to understand that the level of desperation we see in the abuse of the instruments of state is driven not just by Jonathan’s second term ambition, but also by the fact that those who are relevant today are in no hurry to become irrelevant if they allow the opposition seize power. Such people would do things Jonathan would not even dream of – in the president’s name.

Thirdly, what looks like a bastion from which an opposition onslaught to unseat the government can be launched – the North – is just an illusion. If you thought the North was split in 2011, now it is virtually fragmented.

The likes of former minister and Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Prof. Ango Abdullahi, may rage all they like and declare with ‘certainty’ that the region is taking back power, the reality is its elite are so divided that coherent regional action is virtually impossible.

Never before has the ‘One North’ myth been laid bare than in today’s Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency, with its diabolical efforts to set Muslim against Christian, has driven a sharp knife through communal bonds that used to unite the people. Anyone who thinks that the death of thousands felled by the insurgents in minority areas of the region, would not affect the political picture is naïve. It is the very reason the ruling party is making the outlandish claim that the insurgency is a creation of the opposition.

The disarray in the region is made worse by the typical nature of the political elite to be found anywhere in Nigeria. No one can come out to say there’s a consensus for power to return to the North in 2014. For every Ango Abdullahi who insists that it must be so, there are scores of others who are willing to live with another four years of Jonathan if that will clear the way for their own presidential bids in 2019. In the meantime, they will remain relevant. Acquiescing to an opposition takeover, however, would be tantamount to committing political suicide.

So on the face of it the decks appear stacked in favour of the incumbent. But as we have seen in the Ekiti election this year and in the past, incumbency can be a vastly overrated factor in determining which way a Nigerian election would swing. Dr. Kayode Fayemi lost to Ayo Fayose, but we must not forget also that Fayemi as challenger also toppled the then PDP governor, Segun Oni.

Some would say that a state governor’s incumbency advantages are greatly vitiated by the desperation of federal forces who manipulated the polls using cash and soldiers. But it should also be pointed out that Nigeria doesn’t have enough soldiers to intimidate every voter when the nation would be voting as one in 2015.

So what can the opposition do if it really wants change? It must quickly change the narrative. APC is not going to prevail in a slanging match. That suits the PDP perfectly because it takes away the focus from Jonathan’s Achilles Heel which is his record.

That is why rather than discussing its record, the ruling party has been more concerned with painting the opposition in terms which strike a chord with our most primordial instincts. That is why APC is being defined as an anti-Christian, pro-Muslim and therefore pro-insurgency party.

It was no help that the party in its drive to strengthen its ranks opened up to all and sundry – something that is unavoidable for a public institution like a political party. One of those ensnared in that recruitment drive was former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, under whose tenure Boko Haram really took off as a malevolent organization.

The PDP used his membership of APC to telling effect as it tried to tie the opposition to the insurgency. Now that he has defected to the ruling party can we then conclude that PDP is for Boko Haram?

Those in APC who blithely dismiss the PDP charges as silly and worthy of being ignored would be shocked at how the undiscerning are lapping them up and accepting them as gospel truth.

Jonathan will not be dislodged just because someone says power must return to the North. There is no consensus around that idea. Add to that the fact that the Boko Haram insurgency has so polarised the nation along ethnic, regional and religious lines that any bid for power that is driven by what is perceived as some sectional agenda will founder in today’s environment.

The only way change will come in 2015 is by focusing like a laser on Jonathan’s record. In 2011 he swept into office on a crest of sentiment – the self-effacing politician with humble beginnings. He was a breath of ‘fresh air’ with a story that tugged at our heart strings.

Four years later a chunk of the country has become a war front, millions are unemployed, the economy is prostate, personal freedoms are being rolled back in an unprecedented manner, democracy is being given a black eye as the military stages a comeback into our everyday life, and Obasanjo-era impeachments have become the order of the day.

Do you reward a man for this kind of demolition job? In any other country on this earth such a record will topple any incumbent.

Whether at state or federal level we must ensure that the next elections are determined by the records of the incumbents. Let us not be duped by the sleight of hands by political con artists, nor should we be impressed by stage-managed impeachments which may yet be upturned in the courts of law.

July 20, 2014
Lagos 2015: PDP strategises to dislodge APC

As 2015 governorship election draws closer, Assistant Editor, ‘Dare Odufowokan, reports that Jimi Agbaje has emerged a beautiful bride, currently wooed by the two leading opposition parties in Lagos State.

The Peoples Democratic Peoples Party (PDP) in Lagos State is teaming up with the polarised pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, to oust the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state, during the forthcoming 2015 gubernatorial election.

The move, party sources said, is part of a grand plot to ensure the victory of the opposition party at the 2015 general elections. Currently, the state is a stronghold of the APC. The PDP had suffered massive defeats on the four previous occasions it had entered political battles against the ruling party in the state.

“The resolve to reach out to Afenifere by our party in Lagos State is to further position the PDP as the party of the people ahead of the 2015 election. For years, the people have been made to see ours as a party of outsiders. Sincerely this has affected the performance of the PDP in elections in Lagos State.

“Now that we are heading towards another election year, we are making effort to solidify our position as a grassroots party and this is one reason we are in talks with eminent Yoruba leaders under the auspices of the Afenifere,” a member of the party’s State Executive Committee (SEC) told The Nation during the week.

Also, the party is wooing former governorship candidate of Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) in the 2007 election, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, to join its rank and be picked as the party’s standard bearer for the 2015 governorship election.

Agbaje, who was defeated by incumbent governor Babatunde Fashola in the keenly contested 2007 gubernatorial election, is seen by many analysts as a strong contender for the governorship position given his popularity and widespread acceptability in the politics of the state.

Recently, it was rumoured that Agbaje, who is the CEO of Jay Kay Pharmacy, was set to officially declare his intention to contest the 2015 governorship seat in the state. Sources claimed then that pressure was being mounted on him from some quarters to join the guber race.

“Agbaje will soon declare his intention to vie for the governorship position again. He is under immense pressure to declare. I can assure you he will run. There is even overtures to him from the PDP to join the PDP so as to run for governorship.

“The Labour Party too has been putting pressure on him to be their flagbearer. So, Agbaje will contest the election either on the platform of the Labour Party or the PDP,” an aide of the politician told The Nation few weeks back.

Investigation by The Nation also revealed that the politician revived his old political machinery weeks back after consulting widely among prominent stakeholders and politicians across party divides in the state.

“His close aides, political associates and friends have also been meeting with politicians across the state on his behalf to test the waters concerning his political aspiration. We want to test the pulse of the people who are the ones to determine his fate at the polls.

“I cannot say much about which political party he will be joining to contest the election. For now, what we are doing is listening to all those calling on him to join the race; afterwards, we will sit down to decide on the platform to use,” a close associate of the politician said.

Also, the ongoing clamor for a Christian governor by a section of the political class in the state, according to sources, is responsible for the near consensus choice of Agbaje as the next guber candidate of the opposition PDP in the state.

“Agbaje is a Chrisitan. The people are clamouring for a Christian governor from the east. Agbaje has his roots in Ikorodu in the east. So, his choice is a clincher anyway. That is why we are reaching out to him to join the party and pick the ticket to confront the APC candidate,” a chieftain of the PDP said.

Although he is believed to still be weighing his options, findings by The Nation suggests that Agbaje may have made up his mind to throw his hat into the contest in 2015.

Indications to this effect emerged when his name popped up among people who notified a screening committee set up by a group of eminent personalities in Ikorodu division, of their intentions to contest the 2015 governorship race in the state.

“Agbaje is one of the many sons of Ikoroduland who has indicated interest in contesting the governorship election in 2015. He informed the committee of his interest and he is one of the aspirants we are going to screen as we decide on who to present as our consensus candidate,” Chief Kabir Shotobi, the Odofin of Ikorodu, told The Nation.

We however learnt that the politician is yet to indicate the political platform he will be contesting on. “In spite of the fact that we asked them to indicate their party, I can tell you that Agbaje is yet to tell us his political party. Of course, we will ask him that question during the screening,” our source said.

But sources said the PDP may not find it easy getting Agbaje to fly its banner in 2015 as the politician currently enjoys a good relationship with national leaders of the Labour Party.

Sources claim Agbaje has been meeting regularly with the Ondo State Governor in recent time and their discussions bother on the 2015 governorship race in Lagos State.

“The Labour Party is also wooing him. In fact, arrangements may have been concluded between Mimiko and Agbaje on how to hand over the leadership and control of the Labour Party in Lagos State to the latter. If this happens, then the PDP will have to search for another candidate,” a leader of the Labour Party in the state said.

Agbaje’s emergence as a much sought-after candidate is not unconnected with his brilliant showing at the polls in 2007, when, contesting on the platform of the little known Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) he made a huge success of touring the nooks and crannies of the state to sell his candidacy to the people.

“Many Lagosians still believed that he could have won the 2007 governnorship election but lost because he contested on a less popular political party, the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA).

He is remembered for his colourful campaign, beautiful brand and charismatic presentations at public debates. All these endeared him to many Lagosians in spite of the fact that he eventually came third in the election behind Fashola and the PDP candidate, Senator Musiliu Olatunde Obanikoro,” Kunle Olowooribi of the Independent Poll Monitors (IPM) said.

His entrance into the race at a crucial time like this in the politics of the state will no doubt affect the chances of the ruling party at the general election. He is charismatic and popular. He is definitely a contender,” he added.

There are claims that PDP leader in the state, Chief Olabode George, was the person who came up with the idea of fielding Agbaje, as the party’s standard bearer for the 2015 governorship election. The idea was widely accepted by a good number of party leaders.

Consequently, George and some other PDP leaders are said to have opened discussions with Agbaje to join the PDP as a first step to flying its flag in the election. The idea was also sold to President Goodluck Jonathan.

It was also gathered that chairman of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Mr. Ezekiel Olajida Adeniji, recently took Agbaje to see the President in company of George. At the meeting, Agbaje was said to have insisted that the only reason he could join the PDP was if he was assured of the party’s ticket for the election in 2015.

George is not alone on the Agbaje candidacy as other PDP topnotch like his estranged friend, former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, and Chief Mrs. Remi Adiukwu-Bakare are said to have been working independently on the Agbaje candidacy.

The party and the Afenifere faction, led by the former Commissioner for Finance in Ondo State, Chief Rueben Fasoranti, are currently in talks over the forthcoming election. Agbaje is a prominent member of the Fashoranti-led Afenifere.

The faction enjoys the backing of the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, who is strongly opposed to the APC. Between 1999 and 2003, Afenifere did not open its door to the chieftains of the PDP, which they perceived as a conservative party but today, the party, according to sources, is willing to work with the PDP against APC in Lagos State.

July 20, 2014
2015: Stop dropping Jonathan’s, Mu’azu’s names, Ogun PDP tells Bankole

Ahead of the 2015 general elections, the Forum of Local Government Chairmen in the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned aspirants and their backers against name-dropping.

The forum spoke against the backdrop of the outbursts of Chief Alani Bankole, the father of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, who stormed a recent meeting of the forum where he boasted that President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Chairman of our great party, Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu, asked his son to join the governorship race, adding that they had promised to give him an automatic ticket.

In a statement issued yesterday and signed by the Chairman of the PDP in the Abeokuta South Local Government Area and Chairman of the forum, Hon. Kehinde Sofenwa, the group said, “The elder Bankole’s conduct is unbecoming of an elder and a democrat. We urge him and his son to follow the due process and not seek to usurp constituted authority.”

The statement reads in part: “We recall that some months ago, they were going about to say that the President and the National Chairman had assured them that the authentic and legally constituted state exco of our party would be dissolved. But till date, nothing of such has happened. Rather, the party, under the leadership of our able Chairman, Engr. Adebayo Dayo, is waxing stronger.

“Much as we shudder to think if it is the younger Bankole that is in the race or the father, we wish to state without mincing words that all these are unfounded. They have no basis in fact and in reality.

“If anything, his comments showed clearly that he has not been in touch with the party in the state. Otherwise, he would have known that the party has been restructured from the ward, local government and state levels, such that its structures are in the firm control of the respective leaders and elders.

“The days when one powerful man sits in the comfort of his bedroom to determine what happens elsewhere are gone for good. That was what was ably demonstrated with the primary election in Ekiti State.

“On the purported assurances they claimed to have got from the President and National Chairman, our simple reaction is that we are not deceived. We do not need anyone to tell us that our amiable President and the cool-headed National Chairman are sticklers for due process and respecters of the rule of law.

“They have shown time and again that they would never lend themselves to lawlessness and illegalities. Having seen the gains of a free and transparent primary, as exemplified in the Ekiti election, they cannot afford to reverse the gains. We wager that a thousand Bankoles cannot change that.

“We advise the Bankoles to come down from their high horses of living in the past and face the reality on ground. This is even more so that his four years’ reign as Speaker had no positive bearing on the lives of the people of Ogun State. If they are intent on salvaging whatever is left of their political careers, they should join hands with other leaders, elders and members of the party and work for it. They should know that when they literally decided to play Nero while Rome burnt, some people stayed back and worked to keep the party together. The question is: if everybody had abandoned the party like they did, would there be a platform that they now seek to impose themselves on?

“We recall with nostalgia his membership of the infamous cabal which frustrated the then Acting President Goodluck Jonathan from assuming office as the substantive President. We also recall that upon his losing his re-election bid (he could not win one local government area which makes up his Abeokuta South Federal Constituency), he colluded with the opposition to deny the South West the Speakership of the House of Representatives that was zoned to it.

At press time, Chief Bankole could not be reached for comment.

July 19, 2014
PDP plans to ‘win with cash, rice,’ APC alleges

Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of vowing to use money and bags of rice to “win” the governorship election on August 9, as it allegedly did in Ekiti State.

Its Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement yesterday, said sources quoted a PDP national official of revealing the plan to a monarch in Ile-Ife.

“We are in power and we have the cash. At best, Osun voters would not be worth more than N10,000 and a bag of rice each. That is what we gave them in Ekiti. We will repeat it in Osun and win,” the PDP chieftain was quoted as saying.

The party accused the party stalwart of assuring the old man that he had nothing to worry about the election, as the Federal Government has the power and the money to make him win.

“We did it in Ekiti and we are prepared to do it in Osun again,” the PDP chieftain was reported by eye-witnesses to have said.

But the APC vowed that the PDP will meet its waterloo in Osun because the people “do not suffer fools and do not sell their birthrights.”

“The insinuation that the total value of an Osun voter is a bag of rice and N10, 000 constitutes an abominable insult on the Yoruba nation and for that alone, the people of Osun will show the PDP that we are neither hungry nor ready to be slaves.

“Sooner or later, the PDP leadership will be held to account for its misuse and abuse of political power, the reign of criminal impunity and the squandering of Nigeria’s wealth through massive corruption unprecedented in the political history of Nigeria,” the statement read.

July 18, 2014