Senator Gbemi Saraki, the beautiful daughter of the late godfather of Kwara politics, Senator Olushola Saraki, is presently enjoying a new status in Kwara politics. At the recent state PDP congress, held last week, Gbemi shocked other political heavy weights in the PDP when she made it clear to all that others needed rare political skill to stand shoulder to shoulder with her when political matters are on the cards. This is understandable, because she was born into politics and also spent 12 years at the National Assembly under the tutelage of the late Wazinrin of Ilorin. After the congress that lasted for two days, Senator Gbemi Saraki emerged as the state PDP leader, registering herself as a master and authority in the game. The senator made others face a crushing defeat and had their pride and political egos deeply wounded and deflated. The ever-smiling senator has revealed an innate resilience and passion that has kept her going against all odds.
Tag: PDP
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‘Ekiti should vote wisely on June 21’
In this piece, Rotimi Opeoluwa enjoins the people of Ekiti State to vote for a candidate with an antecedent of service and record of honour and integrity during the governorship election scheduled for June 21.
The speculation had been rife for some time that Abuja, nay the ruling People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), had long concluded plans to “capture” the Southwest at all cost, including the use of “janjaweed tactics” in 2015. Some say, it is fait accompli, given the re-emergence of Ayodele Fayose in Ekiti and Senator Iyiola Omisore in the State of Osun.
Some newspapers say Fayose has “regained his groove”, but some commentators say it is not yet uhuru for him, citing Anambra and Ondo polls as examples. Those who hold this view say fayose’s emergence is diversionary, adding that the grand objective is to ensure that Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB) of the Labour Party, who they say, has a presidential endorsement to sail through.
Arguably, whatever anxieties some have about Fayose are not misplaced, given that he was governor between 2003 and 2006 when he be strode the state like an emperor. His rule was iron-fisted. He never tolerated dissent. For Fayose, it is either you are for him or against him. With him, there was no luxury of a middle ground. He outlawed it. He was simply a tornado, leaving in its trail wailings and gnashing of teeth. During Fayose’s Administration, people were serially killed in broad daylight. Five protesting students from the College of Education Ikere were killed. It happened on March, 16, 2004. We recall the killing of Dr. Ayo Daramola. Tunde Omojola was brutally murdered in Ifaki-Ekiti.
He simply went berserk. He bore his fangs everywhere. He and his ragtag supporters played god. Traditional rulers were routinely harassed and insulted. He savagely dealt with politicians, especially those who do not share his understanding of politics both within and beyond his party. To differ with him was to court trouble. The university community was not spared his venom. Inferiority complex drove him mad. He engineered the removal of Professor Akin Oyebode, a world acclaimed International Law expert, on flimsy grounds as Vice Chancellor of the University of Ado-Ekiti. Oddity, which was his style, was elevated as an instrument of state policy. He relished brute force and ensured that intimidation of perceived opponents went unabated.
The fiasco that characterised his reign between 2003 and 2006, before his impeachment leaves a sour taste in the mouth. “Paradise was lost” under his supervision and the tragedy is that he makes light these infractions. Some of his supporters chant that he has changed, but he is still visibly gabby. He exhibited that much in the build-up to the PDP primaries and has flaunted it as a virtue ever since.
He is yet to come clean on why he was impeached on October 16, 2006 by 22 out of 24 members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
He maintains that he has changed. I ask, “change from what to what”? It is a known fact that the leopard never changes his spot. Fayose represents a grave danger to the sanity and good neighbourliness, which currently pervades the state.
Some say there is no indictment against him. True, what about justice denied? That Fayose walks free today does not obviate his conviction in the court of public opinion.
With Fayose’s emergence, it happily gives room for a measure of comparism between him and the incumbent, John Kayode Fayemi. What a world of difference! The former was a huge deficit; the current, an asset. The current is studious and highly methodological, the former is lousy. JKF is a promise still at dawn. One dispenses violence as a currency of his political engagement; the other restored peace and amity. Fayose is incorrigible. JKF is civil, amenable, intellectually stimulating and very articulate. You can disagree with JKF, argue with him and still have your head unbowed. But the former governor does not have the temperament for good conduct. JKF explains, but the former governor is dismissive and rude. In JKF, it is safe to say here is a gentleman in whom there is no guile. That cannot be said of Fayose. He is a divisive character JKF is a unifier.
Fayose is toxic style. Things have changed since he returned. The PDP secretariat was torched. Some JKF campaign banners across the state were shredded. Given Fayose’s style, it is right to assume that Armageddon is around the corner.
Fayose is already sure of victory, but he must be reminded of how he lost woefully in his last electoral contest. The then Action Congress senatorial candidate, now Senator Babafemi Ojudu, trounced him silly. The polity is heated up not because of his oratory prowess, not for this promise to drive the state to higher ground but because of his notoriety and appetite for anarchy. This is no time for indifference. No, the moment calls for vigilance. The dog is poised to return to its vomit. Hs deficiencies will make him resort to untoward tactics. It is simply not his fault.
We dare not ask about his dubious performance as governor, we are only told that he has “experience”. He trumpets that much too. Certainly, his experience includes impunity, looting and debasing our common heritage as highly ethical people. More of his experience includes masking his credibility challenge to the undiscerning. Can anybody say he has a demonstrable ability to govern, let alone inspire the confidence of Ekiti people? Remember his impeachment from office was greeted with spontaneous joy across the land.
His re-appearance was greeted by a cocktail of violence. But, typical of the PDP, the family affair mechanism has been applied. Fayose has recommended some for ministerial slots and there is now the peace of the graveyard, since the PDP remains, “the chop-chop party”. Peace is a cherished commodity in Ekiti. We beseech the enfant terrible to maintain some decorum in his delusional race to the government house. This appeal become imperative, given that only yesterday the governor’s convey was allegedly attacked by thugs that poured out of the Fayose Campaign Office.
Democracy no doubt is intriguing. Imagine its puzzling twist and turns and how such a character well known for abnormality will seek the people’s mandate, yet again after dehumanising them. It is simply ironic. Good enough the electorate know both JKF and Fayose and have seen both in the saddle. In the coming election, Fayose shall be retired for the good and sanity of all.
Opeyeoluwa, is a legislative aide to Senator Babafemi Ojudu and South West Co-ordinator for Young Patriots.
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Fayemi challenges Fayose to debate over comment on education
The All Progressives Congress (APC)governorship candidate in Ekiti State, Governor Kayode Fayemi, yesterday challenged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the June 21 governorship election, Ayodele Fayose, to a debate on the state’s standard of education.
The governor, who spoke in Okeoro-Ekiti in Ijero Local Government, was responding to a claim by Fayose that “the state now ranked 35th in public examinations in the country as opposed to 6th during my time”.
Fayemi said: “Go to West African Examinations Council and check the trajectory. Go and see the records we have achieved in the last three years. Ekiti has produced good results consistently. I don’t deal with opinions. I deal with facts because facts are sacred, opinions are free. Anybody can say what they like.
“I challenge my good brother, Mr Ayo Fayose, to a debate on the academic records when he was the governor and what obtains now that I am governor. You can check out the entire parameters; teachers when he was governor were earning N7,500 minimum wage.
“Then, there was no rural teachers’ allowance; no core subjects allowance; no capacity building programme for teachers. There was nothing teachers could write home about during his time; though, he (Fayose) might be distributing N500 at the time.
“You can go beyond that and to the tertiary institutions. Then, it was Fayose that cancelled the College of Medicine in Ekiti State University; go there now and compare the quality of education in the
state university. Today, the College of Medicine he cancelled is back and ranks among the best in the country. Aside this, we (the state university) have moved from the position of 217 on Webometric ranking during his time to 17 in the entire country.
“I came from an academic background. I studied hard, defended my thesis before I became a PhD holder. I did not pick it on the streets. So, there is a difference between what I can tell about education and what someone who doesn’t know the essence of education will tell you.”
The APC candidate said he would increase the number of beneficiaries of the N5000 monthly social security scheme, adding that the electorate has a task to ensure that the June 21 election was won by a party (APC) which has favoured them.
Fayemi said: “We have seen that those contributing hard to the progress of the education standards, the teachers, also deserve to be compensated and we have said we will do everything to make conditions better for them”.
In Oke Oro-Ekiti, the governor explained his administration had done the townhall, adding the road to Oke-Oro, Ikukun and Ipoti Ekiti was under construction.
Said he: “We will increase the number of social security beneficiaries. Some said they started Owo Arugbo (Social security payments to elders). Those who don’t care and lack respect for elders will equally lie on them. Lying is the crown on their head.
“But all these we are doing are preparations for June 21 which is the actual day of work. Let us go out and vote and urge our people to vote. We are ready to protect our people all the time especially during election. We must go out to promote the good works of this government and ensure we protect our votes on the election day”, Fayemi said.
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‘Kwara PDP, a jester’
The Kwara State government has faulted the claim by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is operating on a stolen mandate.
In a statement by Ahmed’s Special Assistant on Information Deji Oni, the government called on the people to be vigilant as the PDP was out to provoke and incite them.
Oni advised the PDP to put its house in order by addressing tons of protest letters from aggrieved members of the party, arising from its controversial marathon state congress held in the night.
“On our part, we assure the people that the few but noisy political jobbers in the PDP will not succeed in distracting the government from fulfilling its electoral promises to the people.
“Our human capital development and youth empowerment, massive infrastructure development and economic growth are on course. We are definitely fulfilling our mandate,” Oni said.
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Jonathan: Dancing amid calamities
A day after the Nyanya bomb blast in which the government said 75 people died, President Goodluck Jonathan attended the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rally in Kano to receive the former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau to the party. There was nothing solemn about the assembly. Loud music blared from gigantic speakers and the president displayed his dance steps. He also chose that occasion to accuse Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of fraud. His countenance and those of other PDP leaders did not reflect the mood of the country.
He flew from Kano to Ibadan to attend the birthday of the Olubadan of Ibadanland. The day after, he presided over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday. That was also the day insurgents abducted school girls in Borno. It emerged two days ago that over 200 girls are being held.
Last Thursday, President Jonathan by 11.00 a.m. presided over the National Security Council meeting at the Presidential Villa. It was attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo, the Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen Aliyu Gusau, the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki
(rtd.), the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, the Service Chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the State Security Services and the Director-General of National Intelligence Agency. The President and the National Security Council met immediately with some state governors at the First Lady Conference room for about two hours on the same day. Governors of the opposition parties were left out as though they have no idea about how to address the security challenges in the country.
By 9.00 a.m., the President on Friday observed his Good Friday church service at the Aso Villa Chapel with his mother, Eunice and other top government officials.
On Easter Sunday, the President started the day with a church service at the Aso Villa Chapel by 9.00a.m before receiving Christian faithful in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) led by the FCT Minister Bala Mohammed at his residence by 1.00 p.m.
The planned visit of the Pakistani President to the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday was however cancelled.
Significantly, it has been one week since the abduction of the school girls and going by the president’s itinerary in the last one week, nothing of value has been done to get them out. What would have become a major development was the announcement by the Army, whose Commander-in-Chief is Jonathan, that the bulk of the girls had been rescued. Sadly, it turned out it was a big lie for which the Army is still ashamed of itself.
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PDP members urge court to nullify committee
Seventeen members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have urged the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to nullify appointment of some persons as members of the party’s Southwest Caretaker Committee.
The plaintiffs said they are the valid Caretaker Committee members by virtue of a court order, adding that the PDP cannot appoint any other persons to replace them.
Justice Okon Abang fixed May 16 for judgment.
The plaintiffs are Ishola Filani (Ekiti State); Chief Pegba Otemolu (Ogun State), Adedeji Doherty (Lagos State), Rasak Adekola Akanni (Oyo State), Bolaji Jeje (Lagos State), Orimolade Olanrewaju (Ondo State), Olawunmi Oshinmoluke Yuba (Ogun State) and Banji Obasanmi (Ekiti State).
Others are Shola Oludipe (Ondo State), Lawal Waheed Olatunde (Oyo State), Emmanuel Oladejo (Oyo State), Olalekan Abubakar (Lagos State), Seun Adesanya (Ogun State), Semiu Babatunde (Ogun State), Prince Tope Ademiluyi (Ekiti State), Tunde Olowofoyeku (Osun State) and Prince Omoniyi Alo (Ondo State).
They said they were appointed members of the PDP’s Southwest Caretaker Committee pending the conduct of a zonal congress to elect new officers, adding that the party is not at liberty to dissolve the committee until new officers have been elected.
They are praying the court to hold that the resignation of their positions in the committee was to enable them contest for office during the congress slated for August 24, last year.
They said and that since the congress was cancelled, their resignation was of no effect.
The plaintiffs are seeking orders restraining the PDP from appointing other persons to replace them in the committee and nullifying such appointment
They are also seeking an order restraining the PDP from disbanding their committee, recognising any other caretaker committee and acting in the Southwest through other persons except them.
They are praying the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising any other caretaker committee except their.
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Buhari urges Nigerians to rise against sect
A former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday said Boko Haram will fail in its war mission.
He urged Nigerians to rise against the sect and prevent terrible acts from diverting their attention.
He, however, asked President Goodluck Jonathan to redefine the country’s security strategy – in line with the insurgency challenges facing it.
He also recommended a drastic improvement in intelligence gathering to address the problems at hand.
But he insisted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has no link with Boko Haram insurgency.
He said although the APC might engage in tight political competition against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it shall not play politics with security, which is vital to national survival
Gen. Buhari, who made his position known in a statement, called for “immediate and long-term strategies for mass employment” to dissuade the youth from joining sects.
The statement was against the backdrop of the killing of 75 in last Monday’s bomb blast in Nyanya, near Abuja and the abduction of 234 students of the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State.
He said Nigeria needs peace and not bomb as being promoted by Boko Haram and other merchants of death.
He said: “We may have our differences, but the vast majority of Nigerians stand united against the appalling violence committed in Nyanya and other places.
“We seek an improved fate for our children and hope to leave them a better life. We want to work and live in dignity and respect.
“We want a life of peace and harmony with our neighbors, regardless of religion, ethnicity or background. We seek prosperity not poverty. We seek brotherly understanding not strife. We seek peace, not bombs.
“These acts have no place in Nigeria. Those who commit them have no place in our country. The perpetrators may look like human beings. They may have limbs and faces like the rest of us but they are not like us. In killing innocent people, they have become inhuman. They live outside the scope of humanity. Their mother is carnage and their father is cruelty.
“They have declared war against the people of Nigeria. They have shown that they do not want to liberate the people. They want to kill them. Yet, with all the energy of their evil and ignorant hatred, they shall fail. The good people of Nigeria shall triumph.
Such a wicked mission shall not succeed.”
The ex-Head of State pleaded with Nigerians not to allow insurgents to cause disunity nationwide.
He said: “We have gone too far in our journey to nationhood and endured too much to allow these terrible acts to divert us.
“Not only have these agents of death killed innocent people, they also abducted over 100 young women from their school. Why abduct school girls? Whatever they plan, they should be ready to face the wrath of Nigerian people. They should release these young girls unharmed. Anything else would be an abominable crime.
“We all must take close heed at this moment and recognise the severity of what is upon us. A small minority seeks to bring the nation to its knees through terror.
“Thus, we must stand tall and united. We can ill afford to allow their crimes to go unpunished.
On Nyanya blast, Gen. Buhari said: “Those who committed this act have declared war on all that is decent and good.
“They have declared war not against the state or even the government. They have declared war on Nigeria and all Nigerians because this murder took men and women, old and young, Christian and Muslim alike. In trying to scare, frighten and divide us, the evildoers committed injury to their own cause. For they have shown us that we all suffer inhumanity in the same way.
“No matter our religion or place of birth, we all bleed and are wounded the same way by injustice. Decency runs through the teachings of each religion and ethnic group that comprise the people of Nigeria.
The former Head of State had a word for the Goodluck Jonathan administration: it should redefine its security strategy.
Drawing from his experience, he specifically recommended improvement in intelligence gathering.
His words: “I call on the government to improve and redefine its strategy in the light of this expanding menace. Clearly, its intelligence gathering needs to be improved so that it can break terrorist plots before they hatch.
“Moreover, it needs to enact greater social and economic reform in the blighted areas of the nation to win the hearts and minds of the people. Give the youth a viable alternative and they will not be duped by the lure of extremist dogma. A major initiative with immediate and long-term strategies for mass employment should be introduced right away.
“Nigeria must and will overcome this scourge but it cannot do so merely by wishful thinking. We need wise and decisive strategy.”
Buhari reiterated that the APC has no link with Boko Haram insurgency.
He said irrespective of APC’s political competition with the ruling PDP, the party would not play politics with national security. He said: “As for me and my party, we deplore and condemn these and all such attacks. Those who commit them must know that the nation stands four squares against them.
“While we are engaged in tight political competition against the ruling party, we shall not play politics on this issue so vital to our national survival and wellbeing.
“We pledge ourselves to the unity and safety of this nation and shall do nothing to undermine national security. We seek no political advantage from this calamity and wish the present administration success in fighting it.
“We stand ready to help in any meaningful and productive way to fight this battle against evil. We extend our hand and earnest offer of cooperation in this regard. Nigeria and Nigerians have suffered enough.
“Those who now lead the nation and those who would lead her must overlook political differences to find whatever ways we can cooperate to make this a safer, more secure nation for all.”
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PDP flays Nyako’s memo to Northern governors
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State over his memo to the Northern governors on the state of insecurity in the Northeast geopolitical zone.
Nyako had, in the same memo, accused the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration of complicity in the spate of terrorist attacks and mindless killings by the Boko Haram insurgents.
The governor also accused the administration of genocide, saying the government was aiding the sect in the killing of innocent citizens in various parts of the north.
But in statement issued on Tuesday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party condemned what it described as Governor Nyako’s tendencious letter to the governors.
The party said it was shocking that such a letter came from an elected person.
It said Governor Nyako should learn from other All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders “who have started guiding their utterances.”
“Governor Nyako must desist from such and learn from other APC leaders who are now comporting themselves better as a response to PDP statements which succeeded in exposing the link between their unguarded utterances and escalation of violence and insurgency in our nation,” the statement added.
The PDP charged political figures across board to guide against making violence-instigating statements even as it implored President Jonathan and the 36 state governors to come up with a strong resolution to stop the trend.
The party also called on all Nigerians, especially respectable politicians to continue to unite against terrorism and all forms of tendencies that promote violence and divide rather than unite the nation.
“Our resolve is to join hands with responsible, respectable and patriotic Nigerians to highlight and promote our desire to live together in a strong, peaceful and united Nigeria.
“Our enemies are at the gate, but together we will keep them out as we continually watch our comments and utterances,” the statement added.
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I initiated social security scheme for the elderly, says Fayose
•APC: he’s lying to win cheap favour
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has said he started the social security scheme for the elderly people in the state during his tenure as governor.
Fayose spoke at the weekend while on campaign tour of wards in Ayegbaju and Oye Ekiti.
“It is not true that Fayemi started the monthly payment for the elderly in the state,” he said.
On the train with Fayose were Senator Ayo Arise, Dr Jimi Oke, Hon Duro Faseyi, Senator Clement Awoyelu and others.
He urged the electorate to vote for him in the June 21 election to enable him continue the progrmme, adding: “I will improve upon the existing programme as being implemented by Fayemi and bring life to more people in the state”.
But, the spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti, Mr. Segun Dipe, said Fayose did not initiate the scheme.
He said: “No one in this state knew what our elders now know as ‘Owo Arugbo (Money for the elderly or social security scheme) programme until Fayemi came with it over three years ago.”
Fayose said N2,000 was given to elderly individuals as allowance every month from 2003-2006 apart from special package for the widows.
He said: “Though, I don’t want to engage in any controversy with anybody over any issue, the records are there for anybody to see. I started the social security scheme for the elderly in this state at the various local governments.
“Elderly people were then given the sum of N2,000 on monthly basis and the widows were equally taken care of, aside the fact that l pay salary to workers, including teachers, on 20th of every month. Given another opportunity, I will improve on this.”
Fayose said God has ordained him to return to power on October 15. The former governor urged his supporters to get their voter cards and embark on a house-to-house campaign.
Dipe said Fayose lied on “the spirit of both the living and the dead by claiming to have given the elderly people social security benefits”, noting that all the programmes of the former governor were “half hearted and poorly implemented”.
He said: “Fayose has again resorted to lying to win cheap favour. Let us ask him (Fayose) where exactly he implemented his social security scheme and for what category or class of people.”
The monarch of Oye-Ekiti, Oba Oluwole Ademolaju, urged Fayose to ensure peaceful and violence-free election.
Ademolaju said: “It is the view of we traditional rulers in this state that we want election devoid of acrimony. Fayose has said he does not want violence. To you his followers, please do according to his wish; don’t create unnecessary tension.”
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2015: Governors give PDP, Jonathan three conditions
Protest votes threat rocks ruling party over automatic tickets, others
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have given three conditions to back President Goodluck Jonathan’s yet-unannounced re-election bid.
The conditions are:
•allowing outgoing governors to choose their successors;
•automatic second term tickets for those running first term in office; and
•automatic senatorial seats for governors aspiring to be in the Senate.
Although Jonathan is set to emerge the sole presidential candidate of the PDP, all is not well within the party on how to meet the demands of the governors, a source told The Nation.
Some of the governors are threatening protest votes in their states if they are not allowed to have their way.
PDP National Chairman Adamu Muazu is said to be battling to manage the situation.
Muazu, who is opposed to automatic tickets, has to devise means of accommodating the agitation of the governors, a source said.
Of the 36 states, PDP has 18 governors. APC has 16 governors. APGA and Labour Party have one apiece.
Some of the governors believed to have senatorial ambition in 2015 or being prevailed upon to go to the upper chamber are Liyel Imoke of Cross River; Theodore Orji (Abia); Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) ; Sullivan Chime (Enugu); Martins Elechi (Ebonyi); Gabriel Suswam (Benue); Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Babangida Aliyu(Niger); Ibrahim Shema (Katsina); Saidu Dakingari (Kebbi); Jonah Jang(Plateau); and Isa Yuguda(Bauchi)
Those seeking second term are Henry Seriake Dickson(Bayelsa); Ramalan Yero(Kaduna); Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe); Idris Wada( Kogi)- when due; Acting Governor Garba Umar ( Taraba);
There has been disquiet in the party on the demands of the governors.
A governor said: “All the governors are united in their demands to have a say on who will succeed them and second term tickets for their colleagues who still have the opportunity of another term in office.
“They said if the President can enjoy automatic second term ticket, it should spread across the board.
“The party is thinking that such a development will shut out other good hands in the party.
“But most of us do not buy into that argument at all. We believe whatever is sauce for the goose ought to be sauce for the gander.”
Responding to a question, the source said: “The likelihood of realignment of forces and protest votes cannot be ruled out.”
Another governor said there was no way the party would not make concessions to allow the second term ticket of the President to sail through.
“The PDP leadership may say there is no automatic ticket but there will certainly be negotiations to make certain things to work. Mark my words, the PDP governors cannot allow Jonathan to have his way without anything in return. This is politics,” said the governor, who requested not to be named.
“We are back to the 2003 era when ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted the second term ticket. Governors want to be politically relevant after leaving office and fairness demands some concessions.
“We have been making our demands known to the party. We hope it will accommodate these agitations to keep the party intact for 2015 poll.”
The National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, was unavailable last night. His mobile lines were switched off.
But the National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu had on January 28 declared at the National Assembly that there would be no automatic tickets for members seeking offices in 2015.
Muazu spoke at a session with PDP members in the National Assembly.
At the meeting were Uduaghan, Imoke, Shema, Yero, Aliyu and Orji.
Muazu said automatic tickets were only given by parties that were undemocratic.
“We have a democratic process and we will go through that; those that deserve it will surely get it,” he said.
Muazu stressed that he inherited no records of any promise made by the immediate past national chairman of the party, Bamanga Tukur, of giving automatic ticket to any member.
A member of the NWC, who spoke last night, said: “Neither Muazu nor PDP has changed its position; there will be no automatic ticket for any member in 2015.
“I can tell you that our position against automatic ticket has not changed.”