The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PDP

  • PDP suspends Oyinlola, Baraje, Jaja, Kazaure

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Monday  suspended four leading members of the Abubakar Baraje faction of the party. The suspension is indefinite.
    The affected chieftains are the chairman of the New PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja and Senator Ibrahim Kazaure.
    Baraje is the national chairman of the New PDP,while Oyinlola is the National Secretary. Jaja is Deputy National chairman and Kazaure vice chairman, Northwest of the faction.
    The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh who announced the suspension at a press briefing said the party chieftains were guilty of anti party activities.
    The suspension is coming on the heels of a ruling by the Court of Appeal, Abuja ordering the leadership of the party to reinstate Oyinlola as the National Secretary of the PDP.
    Oyinlola was removed from office in January ostensibly on the orders of a High Court that voided his election as the National Secretary of the mainstream PDP.
    The Appeal Court had on Wednesday reinstated him and directed that he be recognised as the party’s National Secretary. But Metuh said the party had yet to be served a copy of the ruling.
    The ruling party said the four party chieftains breached provisions of Section 58 of the PDP constitution by declaring a parallel PDP and carrying out actions that were inimical to the interest of the party.
    Metuh said that the suspended party chiefs, who are also members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) would face the Umaru Dikko led disciplinary committee.
    The party spokesman added that with the actions and conduct of the party chieftains in the past few weeks were capable of causing disaffection among party members.
    By setting up the New PDP, Metuh said the party chiefs committed an offence of “identity theft”, adding that the leadership of the PDP had condoned their excesses long enough.
    “We have withheld taking any action for a long time and we have been appealing to them to put a stop to the attempt at identity theft. Our members nationwide are not happy and they think we have been treating them with kid gloves”, Metuh stated.
    But in a swift reaction, Oyinlola faulted the suspension order, saying it was meant to circumvent the judgment of the Court of Appeal that reinstated him as National Secretary.
    Oyinlola said: “‘This is part of the impunity we are protesting against.None of us has been queried or requested to give explanations for any alleged offence.
    “And if they are reacting to the issue of the new PDP, why did they decide to leave out the serving state governors, senators and members of the house of representatives who have been very vocal?
    “It’s all an attempt to circumvent the ruling of the Court of Appeal. Certainly, the last has not been heard about this matter and I am sure that truth will prevail over falsehood.
    The New PDP also reacted to the suspension. In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the Baraje faction, Chukwuemeka Eze, the faction said the Bamanga Tukur led PDP lacked proper understanding of the party’s constitution.
    Eze said: “The problem we are having with Tukur and his NWC is that they lack not only democratic character but also lack common understanding of the PDP Constitution.
    “To us, this is an abuse of the judiciary, Nigeria Constitution on fair hearing and most importantly, the PDP Constitution of 2009 as amended in Article 21 Section 9”.
    The section reads: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this Consitution relating to discpline, no Executive Committee at any level except NEC shall entertain any question of discpline as may relate or concern a member of the NEC.
    These include public office holders like ministers, Ambassadors, Special Advisers or members of the federal legislature.
     Article 21: 10 of the constitution also states that no disciplinary committee at any level except the National Disciplinary Committee shall impose any punishment on such category of members.
  • Sambo assures of free, fair Anambra polls

    Sambo assures of free, fair Anambra polls

    Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Saturday in Awka said the November 16 gubernatorial election in Anambra would be free and fair to all.

    Sambo said this when he formally declared open the campaign of Mr. Tony Nwoye, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

    He declared that the election would be a “one man, one vote, one woman one vote, one youth one vote’’ exercise.

    “The Federal Government is committed towards making the November 16 election a free and fair exercise,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the vice-president as saying at the forum.

    Sambo commended PDP’s choice of Nwoye and his running-mate, Dr. Amamchukwu Ezike, for the election.

    He said their (Nwoye and Ezike) administration would enjoy the support of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led federal government when elected.

    The party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, later presented the PDP flag to Nwoye and Ezike as the party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates respectively.

    In his speech shortly before the presentation, he urged members of the party in the state to join hands to enable the PDP wins the election.

    Tukur said Anambra people had given the state to the PDP at the inception of the current democratic era and urged the people of the state to return the state to the party.

     

     

  • PDP crisis: Clark wants crackdown on G-7

    PDP crisis: Clark wants crackdown on G-7

    •Tells Oyinlola to show remorse first

    The Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has told the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Bamanga Tukur, to wield the big stick on the dissenting seven governors.

    Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa),Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto),Babangida Aliyu (Niger),Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano),Murtala Nyako (Adamawa)Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers)are rooting for the removal of Tukur as party Chairman and other reforms in the PDP.

    They are part of the nPDP along with Alhaji Kawu Baraje, who is the chairman and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who   recently won his case at the Court of Appeal to be reinstated as national secretary of the party.

    But Clark, an elder of the PDP says the court’s judgment may have been rendered impotent by recent events in the party.

    He said in an open letter to the party that the court’s decision cannot be implemented in view of Oyinlola’s role in the nPDP.

    Clark said that even if Oyinlola must return to his position, he has to show remorse above any other thing and be ready to abide by the rules.

    In the letter entitled “PDP INACTION OR FAILURE TO DISCIPLINE OR RECONCILE THE RECALCITRANT AND UNPATRIOTIC GANG OF 7 AND ITS COHORT, IS A THREAT TO THE SECURITY AND POLITICAL STABILITY OF NIGERIA,” he said the recalcitrant governors should be made to face  disciplinary action for their anti-party activities as a way of restoring party discipline.

    He said:” Enough is enough. If this ugly situation which is affecting the security of the nation and the stability of the party must be addressed immediately either you reconcile with them, if they show any remorse, and then refer their case to the Reconciliation Committee of Governor Seriake Dickson, Governor of Bayelsa state, and if this is not possible, refer them to the Disciplinary Committee of Alhaji Umaru Dikko because it is not in the interest of the party and Nigerians if this ugly, bewitched and macabre dance of these Gang of 7 and their cohort is allowed to continue endlessly.

    “I repeat, the party under your leadership is greater than any individual member of the party and you were properly elected at the Convention of the Party and these Gang of 7 were part of the convention where you were elected.

    “Act now while I remain your loyal, committed and devoted Elder member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “You have a duty therefore, to prevent the distraction, the insolence and the tension being created by these governors, who have no regard for you and the National Working Committee [NWC]. You must do something immediately to save the image of this great party.

    “The party is greater than any other party leader including yourself.”

    He accused the governors of acting as if they are above the law.

    “Nobody controls them. Everyone of them makes speeches.  There must be discipline.”

  • LG election: Go to court if you are aggrieved, council boss tells PDP

    LG election: Go to court if you are aggrieved, council boss tells PDP

    Following the rejection of the results by the Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as released by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission, EDISEC, in the just concluded council election in Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State, the newly sworn -in Chairman, Hon Sam Oboh, yesterday alleged that the results the PDP is brandishing were wrongly obtained and challenged them to seek redress in court rather than seek public sympathy with the fake results.

    Oboh, who is barely three weeks in office, spoke at the council secretariat in Uromi , the administrative headquarters, and expressed shock that the opposition PDP could be crying foul after having institutionalised rigging in Edo State before the coming of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole where votes now count.

    Besides, the council boss noted that it is only the umpire of an election that can announce results and present a certificate of returns to the winner of an election and called on the PDP in the state to explain to the Nigerian public where it obtained the result it is laying claims to that they won the local government election conducted in Esan North East.

    According to Oboh, ” It is not unexpected that the PDP would want to go court because that is what is in vogue in Nigerian politics.

    “If you don’t win, you cry foul play and when you win you say kudos to the umpire. I am quite happy that the PDP in the local government election are crying and that shows that the rich also cry , that they can be talking about marginalisation and rigging is something quite interesting to me.

    “We all know that the issues of election rigging and electoral malpractices are endemic with the PDP, but in the APC, we are democrats, we are not politicians in the PDP context. We have laboured toward the sustenance of democracy and we cannot be part of truncating it. We are living witnesses to what is happening in other states and again, we cannot say every system is perfect.

    “Last year, an election was conducted by the PDP-controlled federal government in the governorship election and they lost in Esan North East local government, they cried foul. So, you begin to wonder what has changed between last year and now as to what will make them win the election.”

     

  • Anambra 2013: It must be one man, one vote, says VP Sambo

    Anambra 2013: It must be one man, one vote, says VP Sambo

    •PDP holds rally for Nwoye

    •Receives APGA, Accord, LP, PPA members

    Vice President Namadi Sambo yesterday promised that the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State will be free and fair.

    He said the principle of one man, one vote will operate during and after the exercise.

    Sambo spoke at the Dr Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka during the governorship rally of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) for its candidate, Comrade Tony Nwoye.

    The VP expressed hope that Nwoye will emerge victorious during the election.

    The high light of the rally was the defection of the Deputy Minority Leader in the House of Assembly, Hon Emeka Idu(Onitsha North) to the PDP.

    The former Accord Party(AP) member led members of the Progressives People Alliance (PPA), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Labour Party (LP) numbering over 3,000 to join PDP

    Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; Former National Chairman, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo and Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha, pronounced the end of the reign of APGA in the state.

    Ekweremadu said: “We shall recover all the things the locusts have taken in this state. We want to recover Anambra to end kidnapping and provide job opportunities to our youths.”

    Ihedioha said the only way to make former President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, happy for his post- humus 109 years will be for Anambrians to vote for PDP.

    Former National Chairman of the party, Dr Ahmadu Ali, who spoke in his Igala language to some of his Anambra North kinsmen, begged them to close ranks to make the dream a reality.

    At the rally were Gombe State governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo; Deputy Governor of Abia State, Sir Emeka Ananaba; National Organising Secretary of PDP, Victor Kwom; Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Senator Wali Jibrin.

     

  • Jonathan in fresh consultation over S/West ministerial nominees

    Jonathan in fresh consultation over S/West ministerial nominees

    President Goodluck Jonathan is to hold a fresh round of consultations with Southwest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders and stakeholders to guide him on the ministerial nominees’ list from the zone.

    Reliable party’s sources told The Nation that following weeks of unending uproar within the party in the zone over some names allegedly listed by the president for ministerial appointments, Jonathan may have resolved to consult wider on the issue.

    It was learnt that the president is staying action on nomination from the Southwest until his planned consultation.

    A source said one of the meetings may take place as early as Tuesday.

    The names of Minister of Transport in the Abacha government, Chief Ebenezer Babatope and PDP chieftain in Osun State, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, are reported to be on the list.

    It was even reported that the duo may have appeared before some security agencies for screening as part of the process leading to their confirmation as members of the federal cabinet.

    But some prominent leaders and members of the party in the zone are uncomfortable with the possible appointment of the duo.

    The Nation learnt that a group of PDP stalwarts from Osun State led by a former deputy national chairman of the party, are opposed to the choice of Akinbade as replacement for Erelu Olusola Obada.

    The group feels Akinbade, a governorship aspirant of the party, who has led a faction of the party for years, is too sectional to be made a minister representing the state in the federal cabinet.

    A source said: “Akinbade is a good material for ministerial appointment, no doubt. But when you consider his place in Osun politics in the last four years, you will understand why some of us feel he cannot be minister at this point in time.

    “The minister we need now is a non-aligned person who can and will be able to carry all sections and groups within the party along without being cast in the toga of a factional leader.”

    The Nation learnt that opposition to Babatope’s nomination is largely from outside Osun State.

    The ex-Minister of Transport is said to have been nominated to fill the zonal ministerial slot vacated by Olugbenga Ashiru from Ogun state.

    Another party chief familiar with the development said: “We are saying it is not logical to have two vacancies and you fill the two vacancies from one place out of the six places available.

    “We have six states in the Southwest. The slot vacated by Ashiru is not for Osun State. It is for the whole zone.

    “Given the fact that election is fast approaching, it is advisable to give the slot to a state like Lagos where the president can garner huge votes.

    “One minister is enough to galvanise Osun for the PDP. We need more than one person to make impact in Lagos.”

    Buoyed up by the President’s instruction to the national leadership of the PDP that would-be ministerial nominees must be widely accepted within their political blocs, some party leaders had drawn his attention to the widespread opposition plaguing the choices he has allegedly made, especially in the Southwest.

    The Nation learnt that prominent PDP leaders in Osun State are rooting for the replacement of Akinbade’s name with that of Engineer Ezekiel Adeniji, Chairman, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) while there is a strong move from Lagos and Ondo states to have one of their own replace Babatope.

    Sola Oke, Remi Adiukwu-Bakare, Deji Doherty and Ade Dosunmu are still featuring prominently on the lips of those seeking the removal of Babatope’s names from the ministerial nominees’ list.

  • Lagos Assembly condemns PDP’s criticism of residents’ registration

    The Chairman, Committee on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Segun Olulade, has slammed the stance of the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemning the ongoing residents’ registration exercise in the state.

    In a statement issued by the lawmaker yesterday, he described those he accused of mixing politics with development as lacking basic and required knowledge about planning and coordination.

    He reminded the PDP leadership in Lagos State that registration of residents is a global practice, without which the government cannot plan its policies and programmes.

    The lawmaker noted that the activities of Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) which is saddled with carrying out the exercise is backed by law of the State House of Assembly stressing that any attempt to link the Agency’s work to politics is condemnable.

    He urged Lagosians to continue with the registration exercise, while assuring that the exercise it is not intended for election purposes or tax witch hunting as being claimed in certain quarters.

     

  • Victory sign of era of possibilities under Jonathan, says PDP

    Victory sign of era of possibilities under Jonathan, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described Nigeria’s victory in the FIFA Under 17 World Cup as “yet another testimony to its earlier declaration that the nation has entered into the era of possibilities under President Goodluck Jonathan.”

    The party, in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, touted the team’s victory as a “clear indication” that the nation would surmount its myriad of challenges under the Jonathan Administration.

    “The fact that the nation lifted this coveted trophy is a clear indication that we have entered the era of possibilities.

    “It is indeed a sign that the doors of goodluck have been opened for the nation to excel in all other sectors.

    “It shows that there is nothing impossible and that collectively we will overcome all the challenges we are facing as a nation,” the statement added.

    The party commended the players for keeping their eyes on the trophy right from the beginning of the tournament.

  • Oyinlola: PDP goes to Supreme Court

    Oyinlola: PDP goes to Supreme Court

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it will proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge Wednesday’s Appeal Court’s reinstatement of former Osun State governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as its National Secretary.

    The Deputy National Publicicty Secretary of the party, Alhaji Abdullahi Jalo, disclosed this to journalists in Gombe, on Friday.

    Jalo said the party’s legal team was already preparing papers to appeal the judgment, adding that Oyinlola would not be sworn-in.

    “Now, we are going to apply for a stay of execution. Oyinlola should not be allowed to even go close to Wadata Plaza, the national secretariat of the party.

    “He cannot go there; we are appealing against the decision,” he said.

    He, however, added that “we respect what the judiciary has done and it is an act of courage, and whoever is the Judge that did it, he did it within the premise of the law and we have taken it in good faith.

    “But we are appealing against the decision of the court and this is the decision of PDP,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the PDP official as saying to journalists.

    On claims by the Alhaji Kawu Baraje-faction of the party that it has taken over Gombe State, Jalo dismissed it, saying it was contemptuous, because there was a court judgment nullifying the new PDP.

    He said the National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, who was credited with the claim, was neither in Gombe nor knew Gombe and was therefore not qualified to make statements on the state.

    “When somebody makes this kind of statement, even a layman will know that it is contemptuous.

    “The law enforcement agencies should have even arrested them because it is a flagrant abuse of court process.

    “There is a valid court judgment which has not been appealed against and it is a substantive judgment,” he said.

     

     

  • ‘No Imo APC member joined PDP’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State yesterday debunked a media report that 5,000 of its members in Njaba Local Government Area defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Some newspapers reported that some APC members were received into the PDP by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha.

    APC State Coordinator Prince Marshal Anyanwu described the purported defection as “the imagination of those afraid of the party’s growing acceptability”.

    Anyanwu said: “It is a lie. How can there be such cross over when the party in question is not in power. Even if it is in power, credible APC men cannot join PDP.

    “If it is true, why were PDP leaders in Orlu absent at the rally? Why was it Ihedioha from Owerri zone that purportedly received them?”