The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PDP

  • Genesis of Adamawa’s political feud

    Genesis of Adamawa’s political feud

    Barnabas Manyam in Yola traces the roots of the current political crisis in Adamawa State and reports that the embattled governor may join a vibrant opposition party ahead of 2015 if his reconciliation efforts fail

     

    The internal feud rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State may not abate for now until a meaningful dialogue with the emergent forces of the two combatant factions is held. Investigation shows that if this is not done, PDP’s continuous control of the state in 2015 will not be certain, as Governor Murtala Nyako’s political strategists are already making alternative plans to join a vibrant opposition party ahead of 2015.

    The state governor, Murtala Nyako, since his inauguration in 2007, has employed various tactics to contain rampaging forces from outside, and even within his cabinet and his party, the PDP.

    Although skirmishes are normal features in any democratic practice, the Adamawa case study has, however, lingered to a worrisome dimension in the past, due largely to the hate campaign that characterised the last governorship election in the state.

    Interestingly, Nyako happens to be the only governor in recent history to have contested for the same office three times and winning same without incumbency advantage, having been a victim of judicial pronouncements on his seat many times over. This, according to sources, was the genesis of the political feud, because the judicial fireworks were handiworks of anti-Nyako elements in the PDP.

    Fascinatingly, a deliberate political scenario was created by top echelons, which has pitched one ethnic group against the other, all for political gains. The self-serving intrigues remotely guiding the hate campaign against Nyako and his government are, however, glaring for those who see with prescient and lucid views.

    To a large extent, there appears to be some kind of advantage that accrues to those bent on perpetrating the dissensions, not taking into cognisance the collateral damage the entire state is facing or its citizenry stands to incur as a result of their actions.  It is hoped that peace will subsist in Adamawa State, at least before the next round of elections. But, right now, the PDP remains a house in disarray, judging by many internal battles and high profile sabotage being masterminded by some of its chieftains. To say the least, the PDP under Nyako has had to contend more with fifth columnists from within its fold than defending itself from opposition parties in the state.

    Looking back, soon after election in 2007 and later after the elections in 2008 due to a tribunal ruling, Nyako had to draw more from his military experience to survive and to remain the landlord of the Dougirei Government House.

    As the state continues to grapple with the intense fighting within the party, the reasons for the deep-seated in-fighting remains a mirage, at least, to the common people of the state. To the masses, the feud could be on account of anything but service delivery. This is because Nyako’s new government is held in high esteem by the masses on the premise of infrastructural development; water supply, health care delivery and education development, which led the Nyako government to win prestigious prizes as the overall best performing state in Nigeria in the educational sector.

    Despite that, some PDP top echelon, said to be Abuja-based, insisted that the government is a misnomer. They accused Nyako of selective empowerment and of running an exclusive government, with social services and development programmes not equitably distributed. Thus, to these critics, his administration was designated as government of “family and friends.”

    However, Nyako’s admirers and the teeming populace have always queried the allegation that any social service or development programme was not equitably distributed. “Are there some people who were denied the use of roads constructed by this government, or are there those who were denied access to hospitals, schools or pipe-borne water that runs through homes across the state,” an associate of the governor asked?

    He further cited Nyako’ s many feats to include what he described as “the first of its kind,” in area of skills acquisition programme in Nigeria, where young people drawn from the 21 local government areas of the state are imparted with technical skills in strict compliance with German technical standard to boost technology transfer and special skills resource of the state.

     

    Fate of the opposition

    While the in-house battle rages within the PDP, the opposition could best be described as docile, as they are rarely heard coming hard on any government policy, which prompted a conclusion by supporters of “Baba Mai Mangoro”, as vice Admiral Nyako is fondly called, that the ship of state is in the capable hands of a competent navigator who happens to be an experienced seaman.

    The passivity of the opposition, argues Nyako supporters, speaks volume of their endorsement of this government. This view has to a reasonable extent been corroborated by political commentators in the state who hold that in a few cases where a row ensued between the government and any of the opposition parties in the state, one or some PDP characters were fingered as masterminds.

    In the past, a socio-cultural group, Adamawa United Forum (AUF), came hard on the way and manner Nyako was running the state. AUF accused the retired seaman of nepotism, accusing the governor of hoisting himself up as the alpha and omega in the state.

     

    Nyako’s sins

    The question many observers are asking today is, what are Nyako’s sins that most of those who fought for his victory have turned around to cripple his government?

    This question is what the cabal that was formed as soon as Tukur became the national chairman of the PDP could not find answers to, but now appears the public may need to wear its thinking cap to get to the root of the matter as what we gathered may not be palatable to all.

    Alhaji Umaru Mijinyawa Kugama, state chairman of the PDP, once described the internal wrangling within the party as a fight over bounties of a political victory.”Believe me, Governor Nyako is just grappling with an age-long tradition of sharing state resources among the upper echelon after a political victory like this. What he met on ground was a ‘come, let us chop’ kind of a situation, but he said ‘no, it must not continue.’ That is all I can tell you,”  Kugama stated.

    While this argument seems to douse curiosity, Dr Umar Ardo, governorship aspirant with a vibrant opposition voice, on the other hand, has grabbed the judiciary by the jugular to chase the Kugama-led Exco of the PDP out. Ardo argued that the Kugama-led Executive Committee was constituted in breach of the party’s constitution.

    However, political commentators say Kugama, having been duly elected to serve for a period, should be allowed to complete his tenure. This argument is premised on the fact that Kugama should not suffer for a wrong he has no hands in, seeing he was elected state chairman of the party by delegates of the party.

    While the battle rages on, the Tukur-led National Working Committee (NWC) suspended Kugama and a caretaker chairman in the person of Damagun, who was appointed soon after a controversial state congress was conducted, leaving out the Nyako-led PDP in the cold. It was that congress that produced Chief Joel Hammanjoda Madaki.

    Soon after Madaki’s emergence, the litmus test of who becomes the member representing Jereng constituency in the State Assembly was hovering on the blink menacingly. Two congresses were conducted by Madaki and Kugama, but later the INEC, which had supervised the two congresses, rejected that of Kugama and accepted that of Madaki.

    The election was allegedly conducted in the sitting governor’s home local government area of Mayo Belwa and PDP won, but the victory left a bitter test in the mouth of the two PDP factions.

    Today, the relationship between these two factions has become so irreconcilable that it is certain the state and the citizenry would be the worse for it.

    The stakeholders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State, especially those loyal to Governor Murtala Nyako, have finally resolved to dump the party in Adamawa State.

    This fresh development, we exclusively uncovered, will be implemented if all the current efforts by Nyako at reconciliation fail.

  • Some PDP’s frailties that should leapfrog APC to power

    Some PDP’s frailties that should leapfrog APC to power

    Billions, no longer millions at which eyes used to pop and for which a distinguished FEDECO Chairman said he would have collapsed, now reads like pennies in PDP’s corruption odyssey.

    Corruption in Nigeria diverts financial resources from building roads, and bridges, curtailing the development of infrastructure that is needed to make Nigeria more competitive. It drains the federal treasury of funds that could do wonders in expanding and improving the education provided to millions of Nigerian children which, in turn, would enhance Nigeria’s economic future. Corruption forestalls additional spending on medical clinics and preventive health-care spending that countless studies have shown reap long-term economic rewards for a country when properly implemented. In short, corruption is a scourge that undermines virtually everything that could move Nigeria towards a brighter economic future.’ – Jeffrey Hawkins -U.S Consul-General

    For its frailties, which I define as inherent moral turpitude leading to inability to resist evil, top of which is corruption, of both material and the entire Nigerian governmental apparatus, the Peoples Democratic Party ought to have been dead a thousand times and more. That the party, consisting of an amalgam of those elder statesman Tunji Braithwaite described as ‘rats and cockroaches’ during the Second Republic, is still alive and kicking is due, not to the patronage and racketeers which cohere it, but the in-explainable inability of the opposition political parties to have massed against it when that was the earnest wishes of a majority of Nigerians.

    One thing that needs be emphasised from the very beginning is that this has little or nothing to do with the person of President Jonathan, a decent gentleman, as corruption is ingrained in the party’s DNA. Nobody within PDP today can tame it. It currently has very experienced octogenarians at its policy-making levels which should ordinarily translate to a more nuanced party management but what do we have? As the Yoruba would say:’kaka ki ewe agbon de, lile lo nle si’, meaning that, rather than the coconut leaf getting softer, it’s getting tougher by the day. Corruption has become the party’s raison d’etre and this manifests in every segment of our national life.

    The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), under the lead of a very forthright Nigerian attorney, Ledum Mitee who, but for God’s mercy, would have long been consumed by the forebears of these roaches, has again presented its Audit Reports in compliance with the requirement of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) covering the period 2009-2011.

    It reeks of nothing but corruption. And as is usual, the culpable government agencies, NNPC and PPRA, the latter in particular, have been fighting to the death to salvage what remains of their integrity coming on the heels of the massive oil subsidy scam in which scions of PDP leaders turned out the major culprits. Meanwhile, as has become the norm, both the EFCC and the judiciary are playing poker over that serious matter such that by the time they came up with their slaps on the wrist, Nigerians, weighed down by their daily gruelling toils, would have forgotten all about it.

    The report covered physical and process issues that characterise business activities in the industry with a view to establishing if companies actually paid what they were expected to pay and if government indeed received what it ought to receive. The report recommends that the NNPC should: ·’settle domestic crude liability of N842.7 billion adhere to due process in accessing subsidy deductions out of crude oil proceeds;. carry out a comprehensive documentation system of the records and reconciliation of volumes and value of PSCs and Carry transactions; design a system that suitably controls gas income to the Federation; confirm remittance of $3.789billion (dividends from NLNG) to the Federation Account; strengthen controls over product importation and distribution and specify a unique methodology for managing crude sales during a Trial Marketing Period’.

    It should be noted that some of the above, where they are not direct thefts, are wonky systems put in place to facilitate stealing from the national treasury. PPRA is to remit N4.423 billion to the Federation Account for the period in review; a report which Reginald Ibe, its Executive Secretary, as should be expected, has disputed as if Nigerians do not know that agency enough.

    As is now well known, the PDP, for purposes of 2015, will never have the political will to deal appropriately with these well documented acts of non-transparency. As with the pension fund and the humongous oil subsidy fraud, so shall it be with the NEITI Audited Report.

    Nor is corruption the only issue APC should leverage on to send PDP to where it rightly belongs in historical infamy.

    The other day I laughed my heart out at the spectacle of our dear President at the wheel of a Land Rover besotted by a swooning array of well decorated PDP women in a scene so reminiscent of Mr Bode George’s court days. A few questions immediately crossed my mind about this ‘Sagamu road-show’, as my brother, and colleague columnist, Dr Jide Oluwajuyitan, has described it: Don’t these otherwise innocent women know that their zone of the party has long been forgotten by the powers that be in Abuja? I also wondered what became of then President Obasanjo’s no less imaginative ‘road show’ as he flagged off the Ibadan-Ilorin road as Baba Adedibu held court in Ibadan and elsewhere? Is the road now completed a decade after? Then I remembered the delectable and hard-working Mrs. Deizani Alison-Madueke then of the Works Ministry who, overcome by her lachrymal glands, cried like a baby whose milk was snatched, bemoaning the sorry state of the Ore-Benin Road post N300Bllion.

    Honestly, in ‘Mummy land’ – apologies music impresario Lagbaja, I think our ‘mumu e don do.’

    Worse though is the fact that nothing suggests,given PDP’s track record, that the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way project will ever be competed even if it rules for its chimerical 60 years. I quote Oluwajuyitan, again,to buttress this view point. Wrote Jide in his column in The Nation of Thursday , August 8: ‘The Presidential Projects Assessment Committee (PPAC), set up in March 2011 to look into cases of abandoned federal government projects claimed that there were 11,886 abandoned projects that will cost an estimated N778 trillion to complete…’ More interesting is the fact that many of these abandoned projects are located within the really favoured territories of the PDP , namely: the 400 metre long Utor bridge along Asaba-Ebu-Uromi road awarded in 2006, the 36 kilometre Bodo-Bonny road in Rivers state, awarded in 2002, the abandoned 285 NNDC projects not to mention the never- never East-West road which has not only pitted the Rivers State governor against the Niger Delta Affairs Minister but has ensured that foot soldiers have already been conscripted in Burutu, Warri, Ughelli, Ozoro and Asaba, in what should be the mother of all wars between respected Chief Edwin Clark and his son,the wannabe governor, Godsday Orubebe, two unmatchable supporters of Mr President.

    If all these are happening in the President’s geo-political zone, I do not think the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway stands a ghost of a chance of completion. After all,morning, they say, shows the day, and we already saw enough ruckus on that road. What that expansive ceremony and project would most probably achieve will be easy campaign funds, nor would that be the first time.

    If the above are material and measurable damages to our common wealth, the PDP had also ensured they damaged Nigeria so morally that an international pariah like Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean owner, could, with a wave of the hand, reject the African Union’s appointment of PDP’s one-time Chairman, Board of Trustees, and Nigeria’s, unarguably, most remarkable living statesman -Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to lead its observer team to that country’s recent election. Mugabe did not have to think twice – no thanks to PDP’s record of ignominious election charades.

    The above are obviously only a small fraction of the multitude of PDP’s infractions which the new party should adroitly exploit in getting rid of PDP; a party which inner peace has long deserted as there is no moral authority within it any longer. Billions, no longer millions at which eyes used to pop and for which a distinguished FEDECO Chairman said he would have collapsed, now reads like pennies in PDP’s corruption odyssey.

    APC leaders, officials, members and Nigerians in general, must rise up like one man/woman, as has been elegantly canvassed by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila,leader of opposition in the House of Representatives, and take ownership of this party which is destined to re brand Nigeria.

  • PDP holds Anambra primaries August 24

    Ahead of the Anambra State governorship election slated for November 16, the Peoples Democratic Party in the state has fixed its primaries for August 24.

    The PDP Chairman in Anambra state, Prince Kenneth Emeakayi, said the primaries would take place in Awka, the state capital.

    Emeakayi spoke with reporters on Thursday at the party state secretariat in Udoka Housing Estate, Awka.

    He added that the local government primaries, an exercise that is expected to produce delegates for the state primaries, would hold on August 12.

    “We are still screening the aspirants, 15 had already bought their nomination forms and returned while some of them have been cleared to contest the governorship election.

    “Some people are alleging that the party has a consensus candidate already, but I am telling you right now that there is nothing like that, everybody must go to the field to face the members,” Emeakayi said.

     

     

  • PDP consoles

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has commiserated with Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola on the death of his father, Pa Ibrahim Ademola Fashola.

    A statement yesterday by the Acting Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Tony Okeke, said Pa Fashola’s death has created a big vacuum not only in the Fashola family but also in Lagos State and the nation.

    “A devout Muslim, community leader and philanthropist, Pa Fashola until his passage remained a shinning example of humility and a source of inspiration for the younger generation.

    “He was known for his forthrightness and candour in handling issues, which earned him the love and respect of all.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • PDP reconciliation committee visits Ekiti

    The reconciliation committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), set up by the national leadership of the party, yesterday visited Ekiti State.

    Its mission was to reconcile the two factions- that of former Governor Ayodele Fayose and that of the state Chairman of the party, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe.

    Led by Umar Damagum, the committee met the 14-member State Working Committee (SWC) at Olujoda Hotel in Ado Ekiti.

    Both groups have been at war over whether the party should hold primaries or go for a consensus candidate to get its standard-bearer for the 2014 governorship election.

    At the meeting yesterday were representatives of the factions, including Chief Ogundipe and his deputy, Mr. Femi Bamisile. Dr. Tope Aluko, Pastor Kola Oluwawole and Busola Oyebode represented the Fayose faction.

    Damagum, who addressed reporters after the closed- door meeting, hailed the factions for accepting the conditions and for being ready to embrace peace.

    He, however, refused to clarify the contentious issue of either a primary election or a consensus candidate, saying: “When the time comes, the leadership of our party will do what is right.”

    Damagun added: “I am happy and confident that we are more than resolved after this meeting in Ekiti PDP to take what belongs to us in 2014.”

  • PDP screens 17 aspirants

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised N186 million from 26 aspirants in the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State.

    Twenty six aspirants paid N1 million for the expression of interest form, raising N26 million for the party.

    At the close of sale of nomination form on Monday, only 17 of the aspirants had paid the N10 million nomination form fee, totalling N170 million.

    Prominent among the aspirants are Senator Andy Uba, Nicholas Ukachukwu, Akachukwu Nwankpo, Sylvester Okonkwo, Obinna Uzor, Charles Odunukwe, Jerry Ugokwe, Senator Emmanuel Anosike and Mrs. Josephine Anenih, among others.

    Nine of the aspirants failed the first hurdle as they could not pay the N10 million nomination fee. Consequently, they have been excluded from the screening.

    Yesterday, the 17 aspirants were still undergoing screening at the party secretariat by a five- man committee, headed by Alhaji Aminu Wali.

    Zoning and consensus options are the two contentious issues that have pitted the party leadership against the aspirants.

  • ‘George is Lagos PDP headache’

    ‘George is Lagos PDP headache’

    Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Dr Abayomi Finnih spoke with Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN on the protracted crisis in the troubled chapter.

     

    What are the PDP leaders in Lagos State doing to reconcile the factions in the state chapter?

    Well, the party leadership is doing everything possible to ensure the unity of the party is in the state. We have issues, which the former reconciliatory committee has not been able to solve. We are trying to bring every member on board to work together and guarantee electoral successes. We don’t have statutory meeting time, but we have all come to realise that dialogue is the way to move the party forward and to avoid any form of acrimony within the party. We believe that, if the party must remain solid, peace has to prevail and we have to ensure equity and fair play.

    Is it true that the party has succeeded in reconciling Chief Bode George and Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe?

    I am not in a position to confirm or deny their reconciliation. If they have, it’s good for the party. We all have to come together to make a success story. We have invested our time, energy and resources towards building a virile party in the state, but the personal ego of few individuals is pulling us back. I think this time around, we should put the party interest above personal interest, so that the party can win elections in the state.

    Some members of the party have gone to court to seek the removal of Chief Bode George from the PDP Board of Trustee because he is an ex-convict. Is it a collective decision?

    I read the court action on the pages of newspapers. I was upset by the action of the members. I found it uncomfortable that the members are taking themselves to court on party matters. This is an issue that could have been dealt with at the party level. In any case, we are in democracy and people have freedom of decision making on any issue. The court is there as an arbiter.

    Lagos PDP has disowned the Minister of Trade and Commerce, Dr Olusegun Aganga, as state representative in the Federal Executive Council. When are you getting a replacement?

    Yes, the clamour for a true Lagosian as a member of the federal cabinet has been on for a while. It is a legitimate demand we are making. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says that each state should have a minister. Dr Olusegun Aganga is not from Lagos State. I have not been able to discuss with him to find out where he comes from. We have discussed the matter at the party hierarchy, we have made representation to the Presidency, we have written letters calling on the President to give Lagos State its slot by appointing a true indigene of Lagos State into the Federal Executive Council. I am not sure, if Dr Aganga himself is claiming to be an indigene, but all we know is that he is not from Lagos State.

    Before the present cabinet was reconstituted, we made efforts to get Mr President to correct this anomaly. But what we heard was that, because Aganga is doing very well in his position, the President prefers to retain him. It is not clear to us how that should be a justification for Lagos that is being short changed, in view of the constitutional provision. What the President should have done is to appoint another minister from Lagos State. Anyway, we are still hoping that an indigene of Lagos State will be given a ministerial appointment, in fulfilment of the constitutional requirement.

    Is Aganga a registered PDP member in Lagos State or does he attend party meetings?

    When we were planning for the election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, he attended some of the strategic meetings. He is not a politician. He is a technocrat. He is not expected to perform like a politician appointed as a minister.

    Your group is critical of the congress that produced the current state executive of the party. What went wrong?

    That is the bone of contention. Few people hijacked the process. The court halted the congress from holding, but the Olabode George faction called “the Establishment” defied the court order and went ahead with the congress. So, a faction is in control of the party executive. The other two factions namely: the Union, which I lead, and the Non- Align group are left in the cold. This action has further brought the party down. A serious party should open its doors for every member to be part of decision making.

    There were several reconciliatory moves made from outside, such as Southwest zone, the Presidency and PDP Governors Forum, all to no avail. The panels recommended a harmo-nised executive that would embrace all the factions, but the George Group is adamant. Even, the INEC wrote the party’s national chairman that the Lagos congress contravened the party guidelines and the constitution and that the commission does not recognise the congress. That was over a year now. Nothing has changed.

    Some of us have bent backward by reaching out to George and his group to find solutions, but their incalcitrant attitude does not allow to reason with us. Politicians don’t behave that way. There must be compromise. My concern is that the situation on ground will jeopardise our chances in 2015.

    The Southwest Zone met in Ibadan recently and picked Professor Ladipo as a replacement for Oyinlola, the erstwhile national secretary. Is Lagos a party to that decision?

    There is no issue on this because there is a subsisting order on choosing a replacement for Oyinlola. I was at the congress that produced Oyinlola. Everything was fairly and transparently done. The party’s constitution does not allow anyone to hold position in acting capacity. We (my group) stand with what the law stipulates. The appeal on the removal of Oyinlola is still pending in court.

    Will the party use the zoning formula or adopt consensus in picking its governorship candidate for 2015?

    Consensus should be the right thing because going to the primaries has always led to disenchantment and acrimony. At the end of the day, the party is broken into different factions such that you spent most of the time settling crises and having little or no time for field work. I hope, this time, we should look for a consensus candidate that would boost our chances at the poll.

    Is it true that the PDP is wooing Mr Jimi Agbaje to be its governorship candidate in 2015?

    Jimi Agbaje hasn’t joined the party. He has to join first before any other thing. Once he joins and shows interest he will be given equal opportunity like other members who have shown interest for the office.

     

     

     

     

     

  • PDP should pack and go, says APC chief

    PDP should pack and go, says APC chief

    Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Otunba Oladele Ajomale has declared that the days of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in power are numbered.

    He said that the party will find it difficult in 2015 to win the votes of Nigerians because of its poor performance in the last 14 years. “PDP should pack and go,” he added.

    Ajomale spoke in Lagos at the ceremony marking the lowering of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) flag and the hoisting of the APC flag by Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN). He also directed that the party should be inaugurated in the 57 councils in the state this week.

    He said: “I thank the merger committee and the governors who backed them. They were the driving force behind the merger. Immediately we announced the APC, it was like an electric shock to the PDP, but it was joy to Nigerians.”

    The new party held its first meeting, which was presided over by Ajomale, the chairman of the defunct ACN. At the meeting, which took off shortly after the hoisting of the APC’s flag, were party elders, the ACN chairmen from the 57 local councils and 20 local government chairmen.

    Fashola described the party as “an alternative vehicle of expression of an aspiration for a better life”, urging the members to gird their loins for the future electoral battle.

    The governor said: “This is more than a merger. It is history.”

    Fashola, who reflected on the merger struggles, thanked the APC leaders and members of the merger committee for their commitment and sacrifice. Noting that they jettisoned personal interest, he said the merger drivers showed that “they were masters of their ego and not slaves of their ego”.

    Looking into the future, the governor said APC leaders were still expected to make more sacrifices. He added: “People sacrificed their positions. I salute their sense of sacrifice and there are still more sacrifices to make. I urge the people to learn from the sacrifices made. I hope that we are ready. It is not about individuals. it is about the nation. Individuals will go, but the nation will remain”.

    Fashola praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for standing up for the rule of law, constitutionalism and history.

    At the ceremony were the deputy governor, Hon. Joke Orelope-Adefulire, the former deputy governor, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, Chief Olorunfunmi Basorun, Pa Abiodun Adeseye, former Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Kemi Nelson, Comrade Joe Igbokwe, Ademola Sodiq, Rev. Tunji Adebiyi, Comrade Ayo Adewale, Hon. Adekunle Israel, Hon. Shamusedeen Olaleye, Chief Funso Ologunde, Hon. Hakeen Oris, and Mrs. Toun Adediran.

     

  • Anambra: PDP rakes in N186m, screens 17 aspirants

    Anambra: PDP rakes in N186m, screens 17 aspirants

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raked in N186 million from 26 aspirants that initially indicated interest in the November governorship election in Anambra State.

    A total of 26 aspirants paid N1 million each for the expression of interest form, raking in N26 million for the party.

    At the close of nomination on Monday, only 17 of the aspirants had eventually paid for the N10 million nomination form, totaling N170 million.

    Prominent among the aspirants are Senator Andy Uba, Nicholas Ukachukwu, Akachukwu Nwankpo, Sylvester Okonkwo, Obinna Uzor, Charles Odunukwe, Jerry Ugokwe, Senator Emmanuel Anosike and Mrs. Josephine Anenih among others.

    Nine of the aspirants failed the first hurdle as they could not pay the N10 million nomination fee. Consequently, they have been excluded from the screening exercise.

    As at press time on Tuesday, the 17 aspirants were still undergoing screening at the party secretariat by a five- man committee, headed by Alhaji Aminu Wali.

    Zoning and consensus option are the two contentious issues that have pitted the party leadership against the aspirants.

    While a handful of the aspirants said they would go along with the decision of the party leadership over zoning and consensus option, majority of them have insisted on a level playing field for all.

     

     

  • Fashola’s father death, irreparable loss to nation – PDP

    Fashola’s father death, irreparable loss to nation – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja on Tuesday described the death of Pa Ademola Fashola , father of Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, as an “irreparable loss’’ to the nation.

    This is contained in a statement issued by the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Tony Okeke, in Abuja.

     

    It said the deceased, until his death, remained a shining example of humility and a source of inspiration for the younger generation.

    The statement added that the deceased was well known for his forthrightness and candour in handling issues and it earned him the love and respect of all who came around him.

    “The passage of Fashola, even at the ripe age of 80, has indeed, left a big vacuum not only in the Fashola family, but in Lagos State and the entire nation at large.

    “The leadership and entire members of the PDP hereby commiserate with Lagos State governor over the death of his father, “the statement said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the deceased, who retired from Daily Times Plc, died in Lagos, while the son was on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.