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Pdp defections: A pointer to APC take over in 2015

The gale of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressive Congress, APC has been received by many commentators with mixed feelings. While some brazenly wave the defectors aside with uncouth commentaries, others have seen it as the desired light at the end of the tunnel for Nigeria’s chequered history. The PDP has suffered very serious depletion lately and the gale has not ended. Many more are warming up to dump the party that has prided itself for too long as the largest political party in Africa. Some of its members had boasted to citizens that the party will rule Nigeria for sixty unbroken years.

The nation’s political landscape is daily becoming interesting with increasing dumping of the Peoples Democratic Party by its erstwhile loyalists. In the PDP of today, there is apathy, distrust, hatred, oppression, favouritism, impunity, dog -eat -dog, and several other negative attributes.

But events of the last six months have seen the PDP high and mighty already jittery as we approach 2015 general election where the APC hopes to take over the leadership of the nation.  From the letter of former President / PDP BoT Chairman, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan and the reply of the letter by Mr. President, and all the letters that followed thereafter indicate a PDP House of Commotion with several cracks. To stave off the obvious catastrophe of the dipping party, President Jonathan plans to change his cabinet any moment from now.  Last week, he had to sack his entire service chiefs and the Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur whose tenure was largely characterised by unlimited crises of various shapes and sizes was also pushed away. All who had defected from the party had insisted on the ouster of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur but a defiant Jonathan had insisted on keeping him on as his core ally whom he believes will give him the much sort after second term. But the rest today is history.

Before President Goodluck Jonathan could spell Jack Robinson, the party under his watchful eyes had broke into two factions- One led by Bamanga Tukur and a splinter group led by Alhaji Abubakar Baraje.  From one litigation to another and from one funny court verdict upon another, the new PDP moved en masse into the APC. Five Governors of Kwara, Rivers, Sokoto, Kano, and Adamawa and their loyalists soon after defected to the APC. This shook the PDP to its foundations. Two other Governors of Niger and Jigawa who were part of the G7 Governors offered to tarry awhile.

Only recently, 49 members of the House of Representatives formally dumped the PDP and joined the All Progressive Congress which has altered the equation at the House. Today APC stands majority! A similar scenario is playing out at the Senate where more than 22 senators had gone to court to challenge the plot to declare their seats vacant should they defect to the APC. This move and fear of the APC has stalled the resumption of the Senate after the Christmas holidays.

The consequence of bad leadership and greed in the PDP is now face-to-face with all card carrying members of the party, including those who have been boasting of being the alpha and omega of the nation.

The reasons for what has killed the PDP are not farfetched.  Leaders of a party in power ought to have listening ears from the generality of its members, this seems to be lacking in the crisis-ridden party.

Those who left the PDP had told Nigerians that “In gross violation of the PDP constitution, which stipulates that the NEC meeting must hold at least once in a quarter, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and a few people have been running the party like a personal fiefdom without recourse to that important decision-making organ of the party.” Another issue is that the PDP leaders have no regards for the party’s constitution. Several incidences abound where national officers are removed by a state chapters with the backing of the National secretariat and the presidency.

Again, the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike has been accused by the defectors of hiding on the back of the President to unleash mayhem in Rivers State. The Presidency have continued to deny having hand in the madness in Rivers State where, even the Nigeria Police, Force, Rivers State Command appear to be the official head office of the PDP! What a shame!

But assuredly, the APC is set to take over the affairs of this country as it is gaining popularity by the day. More and more Nigerians are pouring into the party as its nationwide membership registration gets under way.  The APC is already showing to Nigerians that it has the x-factor to take over the governance of the country from the decadent PDP. More importantly, the APC will throw up candidates with experience in governance, candidates with energy, candour and spirit to surmount the nation’s myriad socio-economic and political problems.

Unarguably, the APC is already providing the right alternatives in the states it is currently controlling. In Edo, ably led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole there are ample evidence of good governance and accountable leadership. Lagos is being properly transformed by Babatunde Fasola, Imo is being remodeled by Chief Rochas Okorocha and so on.  Clearly, APC’s emergence is for all Nigerians to get away from unfulfilled promises of the PDP, clean break away from abject poverty, disease and squalor and return of confidence to citizens.  The APC is committed to putting the nation back on the track of development to catch up with the rest of the world in infrastructure, science and technology, democracy and governance as well as social order in a globalized world.

· Mr. Dan Owegie is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

January 26, 2014
Re: APC battles PDP for soul of Abia

For the purpose of keeping records, the trash by one “Hildah Ifeoma Ifegwu”, supposedly on behalf of Governor T. A. Orji, deserves to be ignored as clear abuse of the “Right of Reply”. Nowhere in Mr Sam Egburonu’s piece was Abia State Government mentioned nor was there any attempt to cast aspersion on the person or office of Governor Orji. Furthermore, Chief Ikechi Emenike was neither interviewed nor quoted in the said article. So, the so-called rejoinder by “Ifegwu” is a curious attempt at provoking hostility where none exists.

Those who live in Abia State will be shocked to read anywhere that Chief Emenike has no solid political structure. “He comes around when there is election; after which he fades, litigates and zooms off”. This sentence can only emanate from characters who have been holding Abia State down for many years. After a candidate in an election challenges its outcome to the highest court in the land, what else should he do after the judgement? Hang around Umuahia and be “settled”? Join the bandwagon of political/economic destitutes perpetually in search of crumbs? Or should he go back to his well-heeled business and prepare for another battle? If some of Chief Emenike’s current abusers are a bit more exposed, to appreciate democratic culture, as in civilised climes, they would have realised that after any election, those elected into offices are allowed to serve their constituents, while those not elected rebuild and repackage their structures and processes for another election. Well, I wonder how many times “Ifegwu” has heard about Mitt Romney since he lost his bid to the White House to President Barack Obama. Does that mean he is no longer relevant?

Indeed, modern political culture encourages politicians to lie a little low and not distract those in office. Yet Chief Emenike is in Abia every month for our meetings. If “Ifegwu” can avail me of his contact, I shall invite him as an observer, since we are not a secret cult. Perhaps, Chief Emenike is too enlightened, and obviously too sophisticated not to know when to politic publicly.

This writer, a barrister of over 20 years, has been a member of Chief Emenike’s political structure for many years. I was the pioneer State Financial Secretary of the PDP in Abia State and later, the State Treasurer. I was also the President General of the entire Nneato, covering three huge federal wards, for six years. I was the MC at the 28th December 2013 meeting where, in over 225 buses and 120 cars, over 4,000 co-ordinators from the various communities in Abia State gathered and voted to accompany Chief Emenike to the APC. With one voice we asked our principal to quit the PDP and join the APC. The meeting was presided over by Prof. Mba Uzoukwu, former Deputy Vice Chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka and former SDP Chairman in Abia State. Also in attendance were the State chairman of Emenike Structure and former Caretaker Committee State Chairman of the NRC in Kwara State, Engr. Chris Okpechi, a 1972 UNN graduate of Geo-physics; Prof. Ogbonna Offor (Bende); Prof Chima Ezeoma; and Prof. A. Nwabughiogu (Osisioma). Also on the roll-call were a U.S-trained but retired Federal Permanent Secretary, Chief Sam Amajor; Engr. Gideon Asiegbu, another retired Federal Permanent Secretary; Dr. Sam Ogbonna (Ikwuano); Chief Jacob Nwachukwu (Obingwa); Engr. Dr. Abarikwu (Ibeku). Even 85-year-old mama Onyioha, National Women Leader of the NCNC and wife of the great K.O.K Onyioha, was present as was Dame Iheme, retired principal of the oldest teachers college in Abia State, among others. Are these the kind of men and women who “only tell him what he likes to hear?”

Since this article is about setting the records straight, let me inform further that each local government area delegation was led by the following: Mr. Chinedu Adindu (Ikwuano); Chief LongJohn Onyemachi (Umuahia South); Chief Chiwuisi Uchendu (Umuahia North); Chief S. Ihesiaba (Isiala Ngwa North); Chief N. Ezenwoko (Isialangwa South); Chief I. Atubia (Osisioma); Hon. Mike Maduka (Aba North); Hon. Chigozie Eze (Aba South); Chief Ngozi Joseph (Ugwunagbo); Hon. Grant (Obingwa); Chief Nwogu Nwogu (Ukwa West); Chief Nwabu Anyamele (Ukwa East). Others are High Chief Johnson Adiele (Bende), Elder J. Amaogu (Ohafia); Chief I. Kalu (Arochukwu); Mr. Uche Iyioke (Isiukwuato); and Hon. Ejike Olekanma (Umunneochi).

The communiqué of this meeting was read by my senior, Nnamdi Uchendu, a lawyer of over 30 years standing, former NBA chairman in Umuahia and also erstwhile State Chairman of AD.

Dear “Ifegwu”, it takes commitment, fidelity and perseverance to sustain a structure for over 10 years. It is laughable for a man who has never built any structure in his life to question the solidity of another’s 10-years’ old structure. The revered Chinua Achebe counselled that “Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble”.

The only crime Emenike committed, to his abusers, is the exercise of his God-given indomitable spirit. He has refused to give up on Abia State. And he goes about it without insulting or abusing anyone. Anybody who has been a follower of Emenike will attest to the fact that he goes about his politics promoting his ideas and programmes for the people of Abia.

I challenge anyone to produce one evidence, anywhere, where Emenike has tried to cast aspersions on T.A. Orji. Even in the height of the contentious 2007 elections, when journalists tried in vain to get Emenike to criticise T. A. Orji during his incarceration, he bluntly refused to join the bandwagon of Orji’s abusers. His standard reply was “I have no interest in hitting a man who is down”. Even at the 28th December, 2013 meeting, Chief Emenike told the entire structure that they must never deviate from the “positive politics of representing the good face of Abia and the great ideas that can uplift our state”.

Why do some people in Abia catch the cold each time Emenike’s name is mentioned? “Ifegwu” needs to go back to his principal to find out why he should visit a man of little political relevance to sign a written understanding to deliver PDP in 2011. The state-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Abia sang about this document every five minutes for two and a half (2 ½) weeks prior to the election. In case you don’t have a copy, you can come to my chambers for one. Better still, ask your principal for a copy. Which other Abian did your governor sign a collaboration agreement with over the 2011 elections?

It is very funny that from your Government House, you seem so interested in the APC so well as to know that “Chief G. O. Onyemaobi, who has been running the affairs of the APC in the state, knows Apugo too well to have anything to do with him or take him into confidence”. In the same article, you described Chief Apugo as tempestuous among several other unflattering terms, as well as describing his home as “A Lion’s Den”. Every Igboman knows that Prince B. B. Apugo is a political Iroko. One day the story will be told how some vital meetings that were held in that house assisted your principal to his current station.

Some of the thinking in that piece are so warped that they do not deserve any response. You seem to be feasting on the fate of a very few people who were dismissed from Emenike’s camp. Of the 34 vehicles he gave out, only two were recalled from two aides. Is recalling such assets from men with shady characters not better than demolishing people’s hotels, properties or chasing some of them out of town? Kindly encourage your principal to entrust part of the funds for his 2015 senatorial bid to those characters!

It would enlighten “Ifegwu” more to take a walk to the Government House car park, to find out the sources of some of the Space Wagons, Audi and Mazda cars parked there which are still being used by some of his principal’s senior aides or better still, ask six members of his principal’s cabinet (commissioners) which of them were asked to return any of the largesse they enjoyed from Chief Emenike? These men still live in Abia. Do you want us to give you names of those who worked with your principal, who do not have such “privilege”?

Chief Emenike and Governor Orji can belong to different political parties without the unnecessary bitterness emitting from the Abia Government House. Since, according to you, “their exit is good riddance”, why don’t you and your principal leave them alone?

2015 election can indeed be conducted in a more convivial atmosphere, if lies, blackmails and unnecessary hostilities can be avoided by those whose primary duty should be to maintain the peace.

– Okonkwo is former State Treasurer of PDP and now a major stakeholder in APC

January 26, 2014
Imo PDP: Ararume’s guber ambition alters calculation

Senator Ifeanyi Ararume’s interest in the governorship ticket of Imo State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party is causing ripples within the party, reports Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

With the return of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) early in the year and his interest in the 2015 Imo State governorship race, political calculations within the party in the state appear to have been significantly altered.

Before the return of the frontline politician, spin doctors in the party had thought the race for the governorship will be a race among interested aspirants from Owerri zone chiefs among who are the current Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha and National Women Leader of the party, Dr. Kema Chikwe.

This, according to party sources, was because of perceived absence of any strong aspirant from the Okigwe zone of the state in spite of the zone’s clamour that one of its own should be allowed to return to the Government House and complete its second term of four years.

The zone’s argument, sources said, is premised on the assumption that the inability of former Governor Ikedi Ohakim to win his re-election bid in 2011 short-changed the zone by preventing it from governing the state for eight years that would have equated the two four-year terms spent in office by Orlu zone when Chief Achike Udenwa ruled the state between 1999 and 2003.

Senator Sylvester Anyanwu, Ohakim and Senator Mathew Nwagwu are some of the names that has been propping up as aspirants from the zone for the 2015 governorship election within the PDP. But political pundits, as well as opinion leaders within the party, have written most of them off as too weak politically to confront Governor Rochas Okorocha.

Also, quite a number of party leaders in the state are of the opinion that the people of Okigwe zone blew their chance in 2011 by allowing Okorocha from Orlu zone to snatch power from them. It is also a popular opinion within the party that it will be unfair to the Owerri zone that has been waiting in the wings for nearly two decades to wait for another four years while Okigwe goes again.

Consequently, politicians from Owerri zone were encouraged to come all out for the position with a near assurance that the party will zone its governorship ticket to the zone without much ado.

And notable politicians from the zone were seen as the front runners in the race for the PDP 2015 governorship ticket. Aside Ihedioha and Chikwe, other notable PDP chieftains from the zone being fingered as governorship aspirants include former Interior Minister, Emmanuel Iheanacho and a frontline financier of the party in the state, Chief Jerry Chukwueke.

But with the recent return of Ararume to the party three years after he defected to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), party chieftains are once again looking in the direction of Okigwe zone in their bid to decide where the PDP guber ticket should go in 2015.

Ararume, who announced his return to the party with a ceremony that was witnessed by the likes of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, Senator Arthur Nzeribe and his wife, Senate Committee Chairman on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodiimma, Hon. Bethel Amadi, National Women Leader of the party, Dr. Kema Chikwe, South-East zonal chairman of the PDP, Col. Austin Akobundu (rtd), outgoing State Chairman of the party, Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN), state Secretary, George Uzoma Eguh, a former Managing Director of the Daily Times, Chief Innocent Okparadike, former Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Chief Kelechi Nwagwu, among others, has not left anyone in doubt that his coming to the party is to contest the governorship election in 2015.

While saying he returned to the party to contribute his part to building the party at all levels, he expressed optimism that with his re-entry, the feat the party recorded during elections between 1999 and 2007 would be repeated. He then asked for the support of all party chieftains and members to enable him achieve his desires for the party.

And it appears the prominent chieftains of the party are fast catching the Ararume bug, creating a fast spreading impression within the party that he may get the governorship ticket in 2015 as a compensation for the many injustices he allegedly suffered in the hands of the party leadership before his defection.

A leader of the party, who spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity, said Ararume’s return to the party was a product of efforts by party leaders to reposition the PDP in Imo State back to its election winning ways.

“His return to the PDP is not by chance. Ararume is a politician with a big weight in Imo politics. Having him outside the party was a big loss all these years and we all knew that. What has been the lot of the PDP since he left? We lost our wining magic and that is what we want back.

“The insinuations that he may be given the party’s guber ticket in 2015 are not all lies. Apart from the fact that he deserves it as a politician who can deliver electoral victory, it is also important to note that the party cannot ignore the agitation of Okigwe zone for an opportunity to complete our own second term.

“You recall that Ararume left the party as a result of the injustice meted out to him in the 2007 Governorship Election in Imo State. What happened was the height of injustice and a barefaced act of anti-party activity against a fellow member of the party. That injustice must be redressed. A situation where the then President, Chief Obasanjo, arrived Imo State with the National Executives and declared that the PDP did not have a candidate in the election was a barefaced act of anti-party activity.

“This obnoxious decision was handed out on the party, in spite of the judgment of the Supreme Court that Ararume was the governorship candidate of the PDP in that election. A situation where members of a political party were asked to vote against a member of the party is very absurd and reeks of dictatorship. This kind of imposition is not known to democracy; it’s the height of anti-party act and the party must take cognizance of all these now that Ararume has returned to the party,” our source, a state executive member of the party, said.

Also, the State Legal Adviser of PDP in Imo State, C.O.C. Akaolisa, was recently quoted as saying there is need for the party to revisit all the injustices meted out to Ararume before his defection.

“The fact that Ararume has returned to the party in spite of that provocation shows that he is a good man. As the State Legal Adviser of the party, I will advise that this injustice meted out to Ararume should be revisited with a view to have it redressed because he who goes to equity must go with clean hands.

“Now that Ararume is back to the party, it behooves the party to ensure that whatever rights that are due to him and his supporters are given to them in full without any reservations. The party will make further clarification on this development as events unfold,” Akaolisa reportedly said.

But it is not all chieftains of the party that are at ease with the alleged subtle move to hand Ararume the party’s ticket. From the Owerri zone and other sections of the state, some organisations, party leaders and members are preparing to shoot down the alleged plan.

Recently,the Owerri People’s Front (OPF) organised a programme in Owerri, the Imo State capital, to remind party leaders of the need for them to consider the agitation of the people of Owerri zone for the governorship with all seriousness.

Speaking at the event, Ihedioha, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Mr. Ernest Ibejiako, described the agitation as noble and justifiable. He said he is committed to any move to ensure that Owerri Senatorial Zone produced the governor come 2015.

He urged the people of the zone to be selfless and not be deterred by materialism and pressure from the enemies of progress in the pursuit of the project, pointing out that the injustice against the zone would be a thing of the past should people support the cause of OPF in actualising the mandate.

On her part, Chikwe lamented that Imo State had been producing emergency governors since 1999 because of the inability of the people to do the right thing by supporting credible and qualified candidates because, according to her, the character of a governor was a combination of so many factors.

The former ambassador said for the state to move forward, Owerri Zone must produce the governor of the state in 2015 in the interest of justice and fair play. She, however, urged the people of the zone to see the issue as a serious business, which required the commitment of all and sundry.

While insisting that the group will move against any attempt to give the ticket to a candidate from another zone, the Chairman of OPF, Mr. Ebere Chukwuemeka, explained that it is time for the party to correct the imbalance in the leadership of the state since 1999. He said the group will continue to enlighten the people on why the zoning formula in the state must be respected.

January 26, 2014
Muazu to Amaechi, others: Come back to PDP

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Muazu, has pleaded with the five governors and other party chieftains that defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to come back to the ruling party.

The governors are – Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).

Muazu made the appeal at the party secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday when the Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido paid him a courtesy visit.

The party chairman said indeed, the immediate past leadership of the party offended many of the defectors through its actions and inactions, promising that their grievances would be addressed by the new leadership.

Muazu hinted that his first task would be to set up a genuine reconciliation committee to address the grievances of members across the nation, observing that those that defected could not have done so just for the fond of it.

He said, “We are going to look at the various events and actions that were taken in the recent past. Whatever injustice done to members would be corrected. We will apologise to those the party offended.”

He pleaded with Lamido to help reach out to the five governors before the envisaged reconciliation committee comes on stream, saying that being a member of the “rebel” G-7 Governors, Lamido should be able to influence the five governors.

Muazu pleaded with the five governors and other chieftains that left the party to reflect on what they had benefitted under the platform of the party, assuring that the PDP would not foist a culture of impunity under his watch.

Speaking earlier, Lamido was unflattering in his comments on the leadership of the PDP under Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, saying Tukur’s era was divisive and vindictive.

“I hold nothing against Alhaji Tukur because I respect him as my elder. But one cannot be happy seeing party members being suspended and chased away by the leadership.

“The PDP failed under the last leadership. If Governors and National Assembly members were leaving and you said you were not worried, then you should know that something is wrong with you.

“Many of our members were unjustly insulted, humiliated and abandoned by the immediate past leadership of the party. The G-7 Governors were made to feel unwanted, pained and traumatized,” Lamido said.

January 22, 2014
Uproar in House as APC members claim majority

Gbajabiamila calls Leo Ogor Minority Leader

Members of the House of Representatives returned from the Christmas/ New Year break to a rowdy session yesterday.

The session also saw members criss- crossing from one party to the other. APC lost two members —Francis Hananiya and Ganama Titsi, who moved to PDP, Adamawa. PDP also lost two members to the APC, with Emmanuel Jimeh (PDP) moving to APC (Benue) and Yahaya Kwande (PDP) to APC (Plateau).

But members of the APC, who insisted on changes in the leadership, deferred to a court order and withheld the letter they had intended to read on the floor, asking for a change in leadership due to their numerical strength, which the leader of the opposition, Femi Gbajabiamila, said “ is 20 more than the PDP”.

There was confusion as members of the APC and the PDP launched into hot exchanges, threats, shoving and insults.

The leadership change tension exploded in near violence over a statement made by Minority Leader Gbajabiamila.

Plenary was on hold for over 20 minutes as the chamber became a scene of angry members.

Trouble started when Aliu Madaki (APC Kano) brought up a matter under urgent national importance on the Rivers State crisis and the attack on Senator Magnus Abe. According to him, what is happening in Rivers State if not curtailed, could spell doom for Nigeria’s fledging democracy.

He urged the House to adopt his prayers, which called on the President to sack the Inspector General of Police, and asked for the dismissal of the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu, by the Police Service Commission and his prosecution for all the perceived crimes he may have committed.

But the Deputy Majority Leader, Leo Ogor, raised a fundamental issue of fair hearing under point of constitutional order.

Citing Section 36 of the Constitution, Ogor said: “Nobody should be crucified without hearing from him. If we take the resolution, it might become an embarrassment.”

But Gbajabiamila said the responsibility of the government is the security and the welfare of its citizens. He referred to Ogor as the Deputy Minority Leader.

This infuriated the PDP members. A horde of PDP members headed in Gbajabiamila’s direction. Believing they were bent on attacking Gbajabiamila, APC members sprang to their feet, and raced toward them off.

A tumultuous crowd submerged Gbajabiamila on his seat.

Efforts to get Gbajabiamila to recant his description of Ogor proved abortive. While the PDP members demanded a retraction, the APC members encouraged him to stand firm.

Thereafter, hot exchanges, threats, shoving, warnings and insults began, with members of the opposing parties almost throwing punches.

Speaker Aminu Tambuwal looked on as his initial efforts to quieten the House failed.

Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, Samson Osagie, Victor Ogene, Karmil Akinlabi, Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi and a host of others conferred with the Speaker.

It was a battle of supremacy that brought the plenary to an abrupt halt and replaced it with an uproar that lasted over 20 minutes.

Eventually, the Chamber quietened and the Speaker asked members to allow Gbajabiamila finish his submission. He opined that Gbajabiamila who he said “is a very senior lawyer and a ranking member of this House” must have been joking by addressing Ogor in such manner.

Gbajabiamila, however, stuck to his guns, saying: “With deference to Mr. Speaker, I will hereby refer to Hon. Leo Ogor as Hon. Leo Ogor.”

This brought a loud protestation from the members of the PDP who had expected Gbajabiamila to either retract his words or apologise.

The Speaker thereafter referred Madaki’s motion to the House Committees on Rules and Business, Judiciary and Justice. They are to report back to the House within one week.

Tambuwal admonished members to be careful of their actions, saying he is aware of the desire of the APC to assume the majority position of the House, but that as an institution, the House must not be seen to be flouting court orders even if they are questionable.

Said the Speaker: “We should be the last either as an institution or individuals to disobey court order. Let us continue as leaders to manage what I would refer to as an interesting development.

“We should work together as one. Politics we must play, but the institution of the House of Representatives is key to the stability of democracy. So, we should not slide into a situation in which we cannot conduct our business here. Nigerians will be the losers”.

The drama in the House came to an amiable end. Gbajabiamila and Ogor were sitting together about five minutes to the end of the plenary, laughing and sharing jokes.

At a news conference after the plenary, Gbajabiamila described the court order secured by the PDP as “strange” and “shameless”.

He said: “PDP’s restraining order is shameless as the constitution and the House rules are clear. We abide by the court order for now, until we study it in detail. With the court order, they are only trying to delay the inevitable.

“The situation in the House as at now is ridiculous because it’s the only legislature in the world where minority is in control. But we want to say here clearly that the numerical strength of the House has changed.

“APC more than PDP even with the two members that defected. How can the party with the majority be in the minority?

Ali Ahmad, Chairman House Committee on Justice and a former Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General of Kwara State said the court lacked the powers to entertain such cases.

Describing the court order as a “Strange court order”, he said: “The quality of debate has not reflected the fact because arguments are not premised on the fact that no court has said there is no faction in PDP.

“PDP knew that there is a faction. The court did not even have the jurisdiction to stall another arm of government from performing its job. It is disturbing because there is no amount of urgency that will allow an arm of government to prevent the other from performing its responsibility to the people.”

Samson Osage, the Minority Whip, said: “We affirm our faith in the leadership of the House that has demonstrated fairness in the affairs of the House.

“We are not tenants in this country and to ridicule an arm of government by another arm through the court is not good for our democracy.”

January 22, 2014
‘Governor has no business with PDP’

Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso yesterday declared that he has no business with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He warned the PDP leadership in Kano to desist from accusing him of reducing the party to Kwankwasiyya movement.

According to Kwankwaso, since his formal defection to the APC, he has no more business with the PDP.

In statement in Kano yesterday, the governor’s spokesman, Prof Farouk Jibril, said Kwankwaso has no more business with the PDP since his formal defection to the APC about six weeks ago.

Jibril dismissed as false allegations levelled against the governor, stressing that they cannot be substantiated.

January 22, 2014
Youths endorse Aliyu for senate

Youths under the aegis of National Youths Council of Nigeria (NYCN) in Niger State have endorsed Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu for Senate in 2015.

The zonal congress of the council held yesterday in Minna resolved to endorse the governor as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Niger East Senatorial district.

This is coming few months after PDP elders from the zone told the governor to prepare for service in 2015.

The zonal NYCN Chairman, Sani Adamu, said the endorsement was arrived at after examining Aliyu’s achievements in the last six years.

The youth leader said members of the council are to mobilise people at the grassroots to support the dream.

January 22, 2014
Komla Dumor; 8-hour day; Okada gift; Oil blocks; Solar Fund? Revenue Formula

We join the BBC in mourning the death at 41 of Komla Dumor. May he Rest In Peace. He was a wonderful voice and presence to watch on BBC Inside Africa programmes and others. Death can occur at any time. However, I hope it was not from overwork. If everyone was forced to work no more than eight hours a day, salaries would go down but there would be work to go around and there would be many more jobs. Some offices will need to employ two or three people to do the 24 hours on call demanded of certain offices in power. The work madness in banks should stop. This would cut the unemployment in at least half. Just look at the case of the UK banker-trainees including the poor young man who committed suicide after a 20-hour work load. In years to come there will be a Gold Medal for eight-hour job compliance.

Millions of Nigerians have been unable to exit the ‘Pit of Political and economic Hell’. Every time Nigerians work hard enough or accumulate sufficient funds, some government agent or agency fails to deliver water, electricity, trains, roads or education or else devalues the naira against the dollar forcing them all back into poverty. This failure costs families funds and happiness the index now used by the UN to judge well-being. How many millions of Nigerians were injured, orphaned, maimed, killed and affected by the okada motorcycle -a political gift, a Trojan Horse, to the nation and double edged sword?

Will the new political party APC, comprising progressives and plucked and fallen fruit mainly from the PDP, offer any different future? No doubt the experts are busy preparing the blueprints to be offered Nigerians as inducements to vote for them when the time comes. It requires a creative ‘Massive New Emergency Power Policy’ and needs to supply power in three months like Japan replaced the Fukushima nuclear plant with alternative emergency power. This will change Nigeria in one year. The new party should plan solar loans to millions. Under good leadership Nigeria will become the next big ‘Solar Country’ destination. Under Sanusi, or the next governor, CBN can secure N100billion for cheap long solar loans, reducing the power of the new generation of ‘Generals and Mandarins in Electricity Power’ like Abdulsalami. It will also use God’s gift to Nigeria and Africa -the sun. We saw on NTA this week that the Federal Government had used solar energy to light up four communities in the FCT using a German contractor and the President was there to launch the effort. Amen. Hopefully it is a pilot scheme and it will grow exponentially. May government which still has a year plus in power, multiply this effort by 10,000 times immediately. Please note that we have been appealing to each and every government to go solar. Solar will get cheaper as the cost of equipment has nosedived in the last two years and will get cheaper with the application of plastic solar panels cells. The governments need to have their experts on top of the solar and other power supply technology. Every government should take solar energy seriously and do something positive this year. The CBN could create a fund say $1billion soft loan for solar powering rural areas and even city citizens to bring immediate relief to millions of suffering. Nigerians are used to maximum suffering with minimal survival.

Do we sell oilfields outright and forever? Why not a 10 or 20-year lease with an annual rent fixed at 10% of the profit going to the local community, a tax for the state and the nation in an agreed formula? What is the community stake in any oil field what about the corporate stake in the community?

Only when a politician is heckled will he think and listen. Look at what happened to Zuma during Mandela’s funeral.

So there are only 700,000 slaves in Nigeria? I thought we were all slaves of the political class. Na wa O. Odumegwu and now Sanusi’s revelations, show that truth is dangerous to your ‘reputation’ and working health. The revenue allocation formula is the most potent of weapons of federal power in Nigeria. Some heads of state have walked away with 50% of the budget, leaving the rest to civil servants. Nigerians have witnessed the power of the state to destroy lives and delay development. Many Nigerians states are larger or have larger populations than 40 other countries and deserve to be given financial power to serve their people better and also deserve to be treated as nearly sovereign units within the Nigerian nation. The massive theft and incompetence at the centre is manifest by the appalling state of major roads and the inability to rapidly fund maintenance of such roads. Every region has roads and bridge failures. Properly funded roads and hospitals should never have a federal/ state dichotomy in quality or service delivery. The less the federal fiscal budget, the more for states and local governments and the happier Nigerians will be. A figure of 30% federal seems popular but 28% is better, with 40% for the states, 30% for LGAs if they must be kept, and 2% for compulsory savings and investments. The fiscal federation issue of the revenue allocation is the foundation of Nigerian happiness.

January 22, 2014
Tukur as sacrificial lamb

In the last few months, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been engulfed in crises. Every other day, new dimensions are added to the roiling crises. Most of the issues involved borders on contest of supremacy and arbitrary use of power through which many party faithful have either been emasculated or pushed to the back burner of party affairs. In such a dire situation, it is only natural that the bubble will soon burst.

When the bubble finally burst last week, the lone casualty was Bamanga Tukur, the erstwhile chairman of the party. But he did not go down without a fight. He fought frantically to secure his position but he was overwhelmed by the array of opposition mounted against his person and his office. The President, Goodluck Jonathan, and his henchmen tried as much to shield him and ward off attacks against him, but at the end of the day, the President capitulated when he realised that it was better to sacrifice him and keep the fractured party together.

Since Tukur took over the reign of leadership of the party in March 2012, the party has been mired in scheming and internecine war. It started like a fratricidal war among key chieftains of the party, especially the aggrieved governors, many members of the National Executive Committee, and National Working Committee, as well as some members of the Board of Trustees. For the 22 months of his turbulent reign as chairman, Tukur was perpetually placed on his toes as the groups perfected their strategy to unseat him.

Trouble started for Tukur when the disgruntled groups within the party started clamouring for reforms in the party. The struggle for reform later snowballed into a major conflagration last August, when some party leaders, led by some state governors, staged a walkout from the party’s national convention ground in Abuja. Not only have the various reconciliation meetings even with the President in attendance failed to yield any fruitful result, there appears to be the presence of a certain clique within the party that is opposed to any form of reconciliation with aggrieved members. The reason for this is the fear that such reconciliation may pose a threat to their present comfort zone in the party. Therefore, they are hell-bent on maintaining the status quo.

Now that the fate of Tukur as national chairman has been decided, there are other major issues involved in the simmering crises confronting the party, and several meetings, which attempted to resolve the knotty issues, have yielded no tangible result. Two of the issues are Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 election and the control of party machinery in the states. Going by the body language of the party’s hierarchy, the issue of Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 election appears to be a no-go area. In order to consolidate the hawks’ hold on the party machinery, Tukur became a willing puppet that was used to perpetrate illegality and arbitrariness in the states’ party executives.

One of the problems created for the PDP under the chairmanship of Tukur was that his leadership was particularly divisive. An example was the unilateral dissolution of the executive of the Adamawa State chapter of the party loyal to Murtala Nyako, the governor of the state which was achieved through the courts. The appointment of a new one was strongly suspected as a clear move to cripple the governor’s influence in the party and the state. In the wake of the dissolution, Tukur’s opponents had alleged that his decision to sack the Adamawa PDP executive was motivated by a selfish desire to pave the way for Mahmud Tukur, his son, who is currently on trial over his involvement in oil subsidy scandal, to become the next PDP governor of Adamawa State.

Similarly, the executive of the party in Rivers State was wrestled from the hands of Rotimi Amaechi, the state governor, through the instrumentality of a court order and replaced by a team loyal to Jonathan and Nyesom Wike, the supervising Minister of Education. Ever since, both Rivers State and Amaechi, have known no peace as Wike has become a willing tool in the orchestrated campaign against the governor.

In the case of the South-west, the situation is more pathetic as Tukur’s arm-twisting led to the installation of some largely unwanted leaders whose credibility has been severally called to question as interim managers of the South-west zone of the party. The takeover of the South-west machinery of the party by Tukur’s men was well planned and skillfully executed like a civilian equivalent of a military coup d’état. In early February 2013, agents of Tukur cleverly lured chieftains of the party from the South-west into Abuja for a meeting. Though the ‘family meeting’ was cloaked in the façade of a reconciliation gambit, those at the meeting were dumbfounded when they discovered that they had voluntarily walked into a booby trap set for them by Tukur and his clique. In one fell swoop, all the contending groups in South-west PDP were all deposited inside the trash can. The only man left standing was Buruji Kashamu, who, apparently, had a fore-knowledge of the tsunami that was about to happen.

A few days to the Abuja parley, Tukur, through a top legal practitioner based in Abuja, went round the courts and withdrew all the pending cases instituted against the PDP by some of the groups jostling for control of the party machinery in the zone. The dummy that was sold was that the withdrawal of all the court cases would pave the way for genuine reconciliation. But this was not to be. As soon as the cases were withdrawn, the leadership of the zone was ceded to Buruji and his group. That was how the other contending groups were led to the slaughter slab. With power now fully in Buruji’s kitty, the businessman turned politician has been calling the shot with the tacit support of the party’s National Headquarters.

That was not all. On Wednesday, November 6, 2013, a Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja reinstated Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the national secretary of the PDP. The three-man panel, chaired by Justice Amiru Sanusi, upturned the January 11 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which sacked Oyinlola. One would have thought that this judgement would provide a good opportunity for the party to resolve the intractable crisis that had enveloped it, but rather than find a solution, some desperate elements within the party, led by Tukur, went ahead to suspend Oyinlola and others under puerile excuses.

The Presidency then came under heat from some stakeholders who felt that certain forces were exploiting the situation for their selfish motives. Some governors loyal to the President were also said to have made contacts among themselves and with the President to express deep concerns that the leadership of the party scuttled the opportunity for peace presented by the Appeal Court verdict. This is why Tukur may have incurred the wrath of Jonathan over his handling of the moves to resolve the crisis in the party. Since then, Tukur’s days were numbered as the President was said to be unhappy with the unilateral decision he took to suspend the party leaders, including Oyinlola, who have been reinstated to his post by the appellate court. It was clear that instead of the party creating and getting more followers and friends, the hierarchy was busy creating more enemies for the party and the Jonathan administration.

With the exit of the erstwhile chairman who is an ally of the President, the battle this time around, will shift to the agitation by certain elements within the PDP that Jonathan should not contest the 2015 election. But that would be against the President’s right to vote and be voted for as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution. Tukur’s tenure was characterised by intrigues and intra-party squabbles which resulted into mass exodus of prominent party leaders, five state governors, members of the National Working Committee and lawmakers in the National Assembly. Perhaps, only the President, for whom he was a cheerleader, will, most certainly, miss him.

January 22, 2014
Kwankwaso: A true progressive

SIR: Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is one of the few progressive Nigeria leaders whose leadership transparency is a sign that hope still lurks around for the future of the country.

Little wonder that he could not continue to wallow in the shameful pool of moral crisis that is rocking the People Democratic Party (PDP), thereby making him to cross to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with proven leadership process.

One of the many qualities that surprise about Kwankwaso is his openness in administration. It is on record that he is probably the only governor in Nigeria who publishes the minutes of the state’s executive council meeting for Nigerians to see.

Having earlier served as a governor from 1999-2003, his wealth of experience and untiring desire to serve his people inspired his comeback in 2011 after he lost his re-election bid in 2003.

The people of Kano state might have compared his innovative leadership style with that of his successor and now predecessor before deciding that he should be given a second mandate to rule the state – A rare privilege he has not abused.

It is also noteworthy that his achievements in office have endeared him to the people of the state. His effort at reducing material mortality and improving child care has yielded significant result.

What about infrastructure? His strides in this aspect have improved the commercial status of the state making it a replica of Lagos in the South-west.

Kwankwaso’s leadership style is aptly in consonance with those of the progressive governors. Thus, it is safe to assert that he has just reconnected to his rightful base. It is exigent for Nigerians to identify and encourage leaders and political parties that are committed to promoting and sustaining democratic values, good governance and sustainable development in the country.

Nigerians should use the 2015 general elections to effect the necessary changes for betterment of all.

• Okechukwu Stine Amadike

University of Lagos

January 22, 2014