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Tag: PDP

  • Mimiko’s followers are PDP members, says Jonathan

    Mimiko’s followers are PDP members, says Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan has praised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on its performance in the last governorship election in Ondo State.

    He said the party would win the next election in the state, if it puts its house in order.

    Jonathan said he was optimistic because Governor Olusegun Mimiko was once a PDP member.

    He also said majority of Mimiko’s followers were PDP members.

    Mimiko spoke during a media chat on Sunday . He was responding to an observation that the PDP’s popularity in the Southwest was dwindling.

    Jonathan said: “PDP is doing wonderfully well. In any country practising the Presidential System of government and true democracy, you cannot expect the ruling party to win all the states.

    “It is even dangerous for this country, if the PDP for example, captures all the states. There would be no democracy and that is the challenge we have in conducting PDP primaries because in some states, we look at the primaries as the election before the election.

    “This is because immediately you secure the PDP’s ticket, you are already a governor. It is not in the best interest of the country and in the states you made reference to, PDP worked very hard. I think PDP got second position. The difference was quite narrow.

    “For a seating governor, just like the president, everyday is campaign, because his activities market him. Everyday, the governor has the opportunity to meet with one group or the other. Despite that, PDP still did very well.

    “If you look at Ondo State and the scenario surrounding the election, Mimiko was a PDP man before he left.

    “When Mimiko contested for the first term, his running mate was the state PDP chairman.

    “You can see that it is more like a PDP family divided into two. So, I do not see that as a major challenge. It is left for the PDP to go back and put its house in order.

    “I believe that by the next election, the PDP family will come together and take over Ondo State. We will win naturally immediately we put our house in order.

    “They are all PDP members, go and find out. It is all about PDP. Mimiko’s followers are all PDP members. We will put our house in order and Ondo State will be ours.”

     

  • PDP chieftains in free-for-all

    A two- time Commissioner in Edo State, Dr Omokaro Izevbigie, is receiving treatments in hospital after being allegedly beaten up by a former Chairman of Oil and Gas, Hon. Larry Ogieva.

    Investigations revealed the two stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Orhionmwon Local Government Area, were at the senatorial office of the former Deputy Governor, Lucky Imaseun, for submission of names for employment when troubles started.

    When our reporter visited the former commissioner on his hospital bed, he struggled to speak.

    Izevbigie said he was shocked when Ogieva lost his temper and pushed him.

    He said Ogieva landed several blows on him.

    He alleged his assailant’s elder brother, Nosa Ogieva, who he reported the matter to encouraged his brother to beat him up mercilessly.

    The former commissioner disclosed he collapsed during the attack before other party members quickly rushed him to Specialist Hospital in Benin City.

    Efforts to reach Ogieva proved abortive.

    Some party members however alleged he was on the run.

  • Edo: Airhiavbere gets ultimatum to open case

    Edo: Airhiavbere gets ultimatum to open case

    Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has given Major-General Charles Airhiavbere till Friday to open his case for hearing.

    Airhiavbere, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the July 14 governorship election in Edo State, is challenging the victory of Governor Adams Oshiomhole in the poll.

    At the commencement of hearing of the matter on Wednesday, lead Counsel to Airhiavbere, Efe Akpofure said they could not start their case because of refusal by the Independent National Electoral Commission to give them certified true copies of registered voters as ordered by the tribunal.

    Akpofure said they intend to use the documents to prove malpractices during the conduct of the election.

    He urged the tribunal to make compelling order, directing INEC to produce the said documents and demanded for an adjournment to get the relevant documents.

    Counsel to INEC, Robert Emukpero informed the tribunal that INEC has given the said documents to the petitioner since October.

    He said Akpofure did not complain about non-receipt of the document when they met at the Court of Appeal.

    Counsel to Governor Oshiomhole, Adeniyi Akintola said the petitioner has no reason not to start his case because the petitioner’s pleadings cut across 51 units in five local government areas of the state.

    He said witnesses could be called from the available documents while they wait for other documents.

    Akintola submitted that most of the petitioners’ dispositions have nothing to do with voters’ register.

    Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Muazu Pindigi, told the petitioner and INEC to sort themselves out in the interest of justice.

     

  • Over 8,000 PDP members join ACN in Osun

    Over 8,000 PDP members join ACN in Osun

    Over 8,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State yesterday defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

    The defectors were from the 30 local government areas.

    They were received at a rally held at the Government Technical College in Osogbo, the state capital.

    The defectors were led by Chief Adekunle Oluawo, who was the Chairman of the State Water Corporation during the administration of ousted Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

    Oluawo said their defection was motivated by the performance of the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration.

    He said they dumped PDP because it lacks discipline, transparency and accountability.

    Oluawo described the ACN as a progressive party that is committed to transforming the lives of the people and promoting true democracy.

    He said Aregbesola’s achievements in the last two years convinced the defectors to dump the PDP.

    Oluawo said they were not joining ACN for immediate gains, adding that he would use all his resources to promote the party.

    Aregbesola, who received the defectors into the ACN, assured them of equal treatment.

    He said there would be no preferential treatment for the new comers, adding that his administration would carry every body along in its transformation agenda.

    The governor urged other members of the opposition to join the ACN. He said his administration would appreciate everybody’s contribution to the state’s growth.

    Acting ACN Chairman Mr. Adelowo Adebiyi said it was time for opposition members to put sentiments aside and support the Aregbesola administration in developing the state.

    He urged the defectors to be committed to the course of the party and assured them that they would not regret joining the ACN.

    The people were entertained by Fuji musician Alhaji Saidi Osupa.

  • PDP ‘hoodlums’ attack ACN supporters in Benue

    Several vehicles were destroyed and many people injured yesterday when hoodlums, suspected to be supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), attacked Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) members in Makurdi, the state capital.

    An eyewitness told The Nation that some PDP youths ambushed ACN supporters, who were on a local government campaign tour.

    The hoodlums smashed ACN vehicles with stones and clubs near Togos Supermarket in Wurukum, Makurdi.

    The attack caused panic in the town. Many residents fled the area in fear.

    But some riot policemen prevented what would have been a bloody day ahead of the November 27 local government election in the state.

    There was another attack on ACN members in Gboko, the ancestral headquarters of Tiv, by suspected PDP supporters.

    Over 20 PDP youths were said to have driven in a bus around Gboko, destroying ACN property.

    They also attacked the mother of ACN lawmaker representing Gboko/Tarkaa, John Dye, and another chieftain of the party, Bala Bagu.

    The victims are receiving treatment at different hospitals in Gboko.

    The cause of the attacks on ACN member ahead of the defection of former senate president Dr Iyorchia Ayu was not known at press time.

    But a source said it might not be unconnected with Ayu’s plan to defect to the ACN.

    At press time yesterday, the police had not arrested anyone on the attacks.

     

  • Name parties that offered bribes to INEC, PDP tells Jega

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, to name the political parties that bribed INEC officials to influence election results in their favour.

    Jega had accused political parties of bribing INEC officials to influence results at elections.

    In a statement yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said INEC officials cannot afford to influence election results under President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Metuh made allusions to the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, which he described as transparent, free and fair.

    He said: “We heard that the INEC chairman said some political parties bribed INEC officials to help rig or influence elections. Our response is that he should be honourable enough to mention the names of the political parties.

    “Under the circumstances of transparent and fair poll, INEC officials can no longer rig or influence elections. This is evident from the free and fair elections in Edo and Ondo states. So, the INEC chairman should mention the names of the political parties that offered bribes to influence election results.”

  • Stop spreading lies, Lagos ACN tells PDP

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Lagos State has described claims by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Governor Babatunde Fashola was threatening non-indigenes as false.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, ACN said: “We view the present spreading of tendentious falsehood as one of the many desperate antics of Lagos PDP.

    “To twist the governor’s position that those who constitute threats to law and order in Lagos should either conform or leave as a threat to non-indigenes is yet another case of the falsehood that now serves as anchor to the miserable lot of Lagos PDP.

    “To engage in a do-or-die whipping of sentiments over the restriction of the movement of commercial motorcyclists on 475 of the 9,000 roads in Lagos has become the present pastime of a hollow party that continues to clutch at straws for survival.

    “We are waiting for the reaction of Lagos PDP to the ban of commercial motorcyclists in over 10 PDP states and in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), since it is now hooked on okada politics for survival.

    “Can Lagos PDP prove that only non-indigenes operate commercial motorcycle in Lagos? We dare say that if the PDP had not looted the country’s wealth since 1999, Nigeria would not be stuck in a situation where graduates and able-bodied youths are forced to make a living by riding rickety motorcycles on highways.

    “If PDP did not misappropriate the trillions of Naira that accrued to Nigeria from oil since 1999, would Nigerians not be assured of a more decent life and means of transportation than the deadly motorcycle?”

    “Fashola is accommodative of non-Lagosians and has many of them in high positions in his government. He therefore cannot be threatening non-Lagosians.

    “ACN frowns at the puerile resort of Lagos PDP to always call on President Goodluck Jonathan to descend on Lagos, as if Lagos is a vassal territory to the PDP and the Federal Government.

    “We see this ready penchant to run to Abuja with a plea to deal with Lagos as stupid and outlandish and warn Lagos PDP to stop the foolery of seeing Lagos as an annex of the PDP and the Federal Government, because such is not possible in a federal state.

    “We want Lagos PDP to grow up to the fact that Lagos is an autonomous unit of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whose powers are derived from the Federal Constitution of Nigeria, and not controllable by the selfish whims and caprices of the PDP, either at the national level or its lollipop hungry state chapter.

    “We advise them to quit behaving like over-indulged delinquents and grow up to the reality that the Lagos State Government will always act in the best interest of Lagosians as is the case in the ban of motorcycles in some parts of Lagos.”

     

  • Delta ACN rebounds to tackle PDP over council polls

    Delta ACN rebounds to tackle PDP over council polls

    The dark days are over for the Delta State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The party seems poised to challenge the ruling party in the state in the coming local government elections in 2015. Correspondent OKUNGBOWA AIWERIE reports.

     

    The Delta State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) appears to be stabilising after a period of internal crisis which severely hampered the party’s growth in the state. The subsequent poor showing of the party at the 2011 gubernatorial elections has also been attributed to the crisis.

    At the party’s congress which held in Asaba in 2010, Chief Adolor Okotie-Eboh, son of Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Nigeria’s first Finance Minister in the First Republic, emerged chairman after the warring factions agreed to sheathe their swords and resolved to work in the interest of the party.

    However, despite the relative peace which reigns in the party, there are still pockets of discontent as represented by the strident calls by such people as Dr Veronica Ogbuagu, Harvest Igben and Senator Adego Eferakeya for the removal of the newly elected state chairman.

    The chairman has, however, dismissed such calls describing them as vain attempts to continue to cause disaffection within the party. He said the party has moved beyond the era of few people hijacking it for their selfish interest.

    His words: “No, these are just three individuals in the party causing trouble because they have discovered that they cannot penetrate me and make me work against the goals of our party, which in my opinion is why they are bitter.

    “They have not come out to say which rule I have broken, all they say is I am a former PDP man. Who is more PDP than a former commissioner under Chief James Ibori like Dr Ogbuagu or Senator Adego Eferakeya, a former member of PDP who represented Delta Central in the Senate? I never held any position even though I was a PDP member in the past. Omo-Agege used to be with us and was our principal and as our principal at that time we were loyal to his cause. He has gone back to PDP and we have moved on. We are rebuilding the party in order to make the sort of impact we want to make in 2015”.

    Aside the minor irritations of these dissenting members within its fold, a more pressing challenge for the party, according to Okotie-Eboh, is the forthcoming local government elections in the state.

    Although the Delta State House of Assembly recently passed the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) amendment bill, it is yet to screen nominees presented by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan.

    This crucial task of screening of nominees by the legislature lies at the heart of the petition by the opposition ACN.

    The delay has opened the state government to attack by the opposition over its management of the process leading to the local council polls, thus setting the stage for an inevitable collision between the government and opposition parties.

    Aside the lethargy displayed in the amendment of the DSIEC bill by the State Legislature, the opposition in the state is miffed at the composition of nominees to serve on the board of the state election commission.

    Okotie-Eboh told The Nation that his party is opposed to the government’s move, stressing that some nominees presented to the Assembly by Governor Uduaghan were politicians.

    His words, “Local council election is a state affair, but I do not know why the House of Assembly has not considered our petition about some nominees presented by Governor Uduaghan to the House. Some of them are politicians; they are card carrying members of the PDP. We are not comfortable with those names and I hope they look into it and make replacements. Until there is a constitutional amendment on administration of local council polls, I guess we are stuck with the shenanigans of state government”.

    A copy of the petition made available to The Nation, signed by the party’s publicity secretary, Mr. Frank Egbomien said Uduaghan lacks the power to recommend persons to be screened by the legislature.

    Part of the petition reads:“The Delta State ACN wishes to draw the attention of the PDP government to the most recent decision of the Edo State High Court, sitting in Ekpoma on 16th May, 2012, wherein, Hon. Justice Akomolafe Wilson declared, among other things: “By virtue of Section-7(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Governors lack the power to handpick or recommend persons not democratically elected, to be screened or ratified by the House of Assembly, for the purpose of appointing such persons as members of the Local Government transition committees.”

    The party further alleges that the state government is plotting to install caretaker committee to run local councils. “Surprisingly, however, it has come to the knowledge of the Delta State ACN, that the PDP government of Delta State has perfected a plan to illegally constitute care-taker/transition committees to run the affairs of the Local Government Councils in the State,” it said.

    It continued: “The Delta State ACN wishes to condemn, in very strong terms, the PDP government’s ill-advised intention, which is undemocratic, unconstitutional, and contravenes the extant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and a subsisting court judgment on the matter. Section-7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2010 (as amended), states clearly, that democratically elected structures must be ensured at the Local Government levels. This is the position of the law, which has been repeatedly upheld by the court.”

    But the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chike Ogeah denied the allegations leveled against it by ACN, stressing that the government was desirous of organising a free and fair local council poll and would ensure the integrity of the board of electoral umpire.

    He said: “The state government is not going to put PDP members into such a non partisan commission. The opposition should be patient until the list is made public and desist from working on hearsay. The state government fully realizes the importance of local government council polls and is determined to organize a free, fair and credible poll.”

    Okotie-Eboh is confident about the chances of his party in the local council polls and ultimately the 2015 Delta State gubernatorial elections.

    “I can tell you that the ruling party is in for a shocker, it is not proper to disclose our strategies on the pages of the newspaper. I can assure you that we are not sleeping we are working hard across the three senatorial districts with party faithful across the 25 local government areas and I hope we will make a good showing across the state in the local council polls and ultimately the gubernatorial election in 2015,” he declared.

     

     

  • Opposition parties ’ll unseat PDP in 2015, says Onu

    Opposition parties ’ll unseat PDP in 2015, says Onu

    Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu is the National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). The former governor of old Abia State, in this interview with GBENGA OMOKHUNU, speaks on his plans for the party, which he admits is losing its grip as a major opposition party in Nigeria, and the plan by major opposition parties to unseat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 general elections by forging an alliance soon. He also appraises the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    What would you say was responsibly  for the party’s misfortune in recent elections?

    Honestly, there are so many reasons. One is that the ruling party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wanted to impose on the nation a one-party system. For us in the ANPP, who used to be All Peoples Party (APP), we believe that if our party has not been very resilience, perhaps, we would have suffered even worse fate. Secondly, elections were not really free and fair, the result you get cannot be said to be a true reflection of the performance of various parties. So, all these contributed to the ANPP losing influence, the decline that we saw moving from controlling 9 states to 3, but we are very hopeful that the future belongs to ANPP and other opposition parties. We are really interested in working with other major opposition parties so that we can effect change for the good of our country.

    A former chairman, the late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, was accused of dining and wining with the PDP through the Government of National Unity (GNU). This has been described as the source of the party’s misfortune. How would you react to this?

    It was not a decision taken by him. The participation of ANPP in the Government of National Unity was a decision taken by the party as of that time. You are aware that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of ANPP has, also with other organs, agreed that we should discontinue and so, the party entered into the relationship, not the national chairman and also the party decided to come out of it. As the national chairman, I am just there to do the will of the party. Even though the constitution says I should give direction and so on, but I can only implement whatever is acceptable to majority of members of the party. The decision now is that we should disengage from the GNU and seek cooporation which could lead to merger, go into alliance with other major opposition political parties and that is what we are doing now.

    There are suggestions that you are not criticising this government enough, is this true?

    For me, wherever I go, people come to me, they are very happy with what we are doing and they encourage me. We have done a lot in the political arena. The problems in the system are so many and it will take time to effect change. Nigerian politics since independence has been centred on politics of personalities, but the ANPP is leading the way, to move away from the politics of personalities to politics of issues. That is, whatever the system will accept must be idea driven. And we have achieved a lot in that regard because you will find that before any matter comes up, we will give our own position and we always go beyond just criticizing, we give options. So, I think that is the correct thing because if you go into just criticizing for the sake of it, then you are not helping because we are also interested in our nation being a leading nation in the world and we believe that if we give options, in terms of how we can develop faster, then Nigerians will have more confidence in us and give us the opportunity to govern at the federal level.

    What are your plans for 2015?

    We are not interested in remaining as opposition party; we want to be in government. We want to be in position to help solve many of the problems confronting our nation and also we don’t like the word ‘capture’; we will win states and we appeal to the conscience, the wellbeing of our citizens and once they believe in us, which is exactly what we are doing now to make Nigerians trust the ANPP, once that trust is there then it will be easy for us to win future elections. We intend to control far more states than we were controlling now, but above all, to be able to produce the President of the country.

    Since you took over the leadership of the party, what steps have you taken to revive it?

    First, it is our responsibility to ensure that our nation grows stronger than it is now and that Nigerians are made happy, proud citizens of their country. Our nation can win the respect it deserves in the comity of nations. These are the things that have propelled our activities in the party. We have tried to keep to our constitution, we believe that the constitution of the party should be supreme and we also believe that we in the leadership must not be above our constitution. We have complied completely with the letters and the spirit of the constitution and that has helped us to instil discipline, maintain order in the party and ensure that every member of the party is protected.

    Are you saying that there is noticeable peace in the party now?

    Yes, all those over bearing actions of individuals that used to be the hallmark of the party are no longer allowed. That is why there is peace in the party. We have eliminated crisis and the movement away from the party has been considerable controlled; as a matter of fact, now we are receiving members from different states of the country. This is one area we have done very well. Since we came, you noticed that we supervise the last set of primary and our convention was ranked to be the very best, even contestants who lost did not complain. We do not have cases in the court or in the tribunal. And the party has been peaceful and quiet for two years. We are very happy but the secret is that we allowed internal democracy, we uphold the supremacy of our constitution and we will continue to do that because when you do that then you will be fair and just and fair to everybody. We have been asking those who left to come back, we have written letters to them telling them that look, the house you helped to build, you must come back to make sure that this house is kept in good order and most of them have been responding. We are very happy about the progress and we hope this will continue.

    How far has the party gone with the alliance plan?

    Actually, we are working very hard, a committee has been set up and that committee drew its members from all the major organs of the party and we believe that they are working. We at the leadership have also done a lot of ground work, we have met with the leadership of many of the major parties just to soften the ground, we are very hopeful that there will be success at the end of the day. The issue of who becomes the candidate of either a new party or one of the parties or an alliance is something that will come up in 2015, you cannot pre-determine now, but whomsoever the alliance of the new party present, we will be happy to support the person, our interest is to make sure that we win elections at the centre.

    Do you think party members couldagree to support Buhari considering the fact that he left ANPP to form CPC?

    We should not be discussing individuals now because this thing is still far away and when that decision will be taken, it will depend on the mood of the nation. But any person who is chosen, I am sure they will also participate in the adoption. I must tell you that I am encouraged by the level of support we have received from members, they are very supportive, and they also believe that those things that do not work in the past, we should not continue with them. I think it is on that basis that we anticipate that if we form a merger or have alliances that all these things will work very well.

    Many party members don’t agree with the choice of former governor of Borno State Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the new Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT). How was he picked?

    I have not been told this as national chairman. At the ANPP, we believe in zoning, so the position of chairman of BoT was zoned to the North East and we got a letter from the North East where all our key members recommended the current BoT chairman even though it is the BoT that by our constitution can select their own chairman. All the leaders in the North East made that selection and when we were inaugurating the Board of Trustees, there was only one candidate and that was Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff. So, if there were other candidates, there would have been an election. Those who are making this comment have not brought it up to me. They should also have provided an alternative so that those who don’t like him will decide to vote against him. He is just starting. All organs of the party are working, we are interested in winning elections and my responsibility is to ensure that I harness all resources in the party and to make sure that the party operates efficiently. Our interest is duly to the country, we believe that if our party is strong, then we will be in a position to provide an alternative platform to ensure that politics becomes competitive in the nation so that those in office will always know that if they don’t do well, they can be voted out and that is the reason we are going for this merger and alliance discussion.

    In terms of delivering democracy dividends, how would you rate the governors?

    A number of governors have done very well. We in the opposition parties are worried because we have a situation where we are getting so much revenue into the country, more than we have ever had before and yet we cannot implement our capital budget and we have cases of insecurity at the level we never had before, our infrastructure is decaying; look at the flood, the meteorologists warned that there will be so much rainfall this year and that there will be flooding, there was that warning, but I don’t know whether there was any decision taken in response to that warning. Cameroon, our neighbouring country, told us they are going to release water from their dam, these are things that good governance can help us resolve. There are a lot of problems; look at assessment from international organizations, even from Africa, now Nigeria is ranked among the least. We are worried and there is high level of unemployment, poverty level is rising, even our own government agencies are saying so and that is why we are asking Nigerians to give us a chance, if you have tried one political party for 13 years, we should try another. It will help promote good governance.

    If by tomorrow you find your BoT Chairman working against the interest of the party, what action will the party take?

    I doubt he will do so because all members of the party have personally told me that they are going to work in the interest of the party and I believe he will continue to be loyal to the party.

    How would you assess President Goodluck Jonathan, considering the general insecurity in the country?

    The situation is very disturbing. We also know that the security of lives and property is the most important responsibility of any government and it is in the constitution and we see how insecure people are across the country. A lot of problems are all over the country. There is the lack of implementation of the capital budget. Look at the issue of fuel scarcity; the idea of fuel scarcity is very disturbing to us. The position of our party is very clear that we need to repair our refineries. There is no reason refineries can work in other countries and they cannot work in Nigeria. If all our refineries are working, we should be in a position to meet virtually all the needs of our nation. If we refine here, it means we are also creating jobs and this means a lot of benefits because the workers will be paying tax to government and so revenue of government will also rise. Look at the issue of flood, government should take necessary steps that ought to have been taken. So, we are interested because we don’t want to see prices rise. Government should address the need of our farmers with urgency so that crops can be planted; we need to take remedial actions to address this issue.

    Where do you want to see ANPP as a party in years to come?

    ANPP is a great party of the future. We are talking to the entire major opposition parties. Our aim is merger and that is what our National Executive Committee (NEC) has mandated us to do. If we don’t get it, then we form an alliance. What we want to do is to be able to produce President of Nigeria, let Nigerians see that many of the problems confronting us can be solved. At times, I am not comfortable that problems we have since independence are still with us. Something is wrong. I believe whatever comes out of our discussion will do well for Nigeria.

     

  • PDP chief praises Tinubu’s ruggedness

    PDP chief praises Tinubu’s ruggedness

    Former Minister of Mines and Steel Development and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain in Ogun State, Chief Sarafa Isola, yesterday hailed the National leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as a dogged fighter.

    The former Lagos state governor, he said, fight for any “cause and ideology he believes in.

    Isola, who was Secretary to State Government (SSG), Ogun State, during ex – Governor Gbenga Daniel’s first term in office, said Tinubu has remained consistent despite all odds.

    This, he said, has enabled him to provide leadership to the party, a quality he said is lacking in many politicians.

    According to him, politicians who can’t stand for something inevitably can’t provide the leadership required to develop and nurture the nation’s democracy.

    The ex – minister who is the Tayese of Egbaland spoke in his GRA home, Abeokuta, the state capital during an interaction with journalists on heels of the robust but unsuccessful outing of ACN in Ondo State.

    Isola said: “Look at Asiwaju Tinubu. He is a dogged fighter and had remained consistent in his party deploying his energy, time and resources for the party because of the ideology he believes in. “From the era of Alliance for Democracy (AD) to Action Congress (AC) through to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), he has been consistent with the party of his ideology and he had the opportunity to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but he never did.

    “That is how it ought to be. Chief Segun Osoba is another politician who had remained consistent in his party right from AD despite all odds.

    “We must believe and stand for something. If you can’t stand for something, you can’t provide leadership and there would also be no ideology to pursue.

    “But look at our contemporaries today if it is not paying them well in one political party, they quickly jump ship. If it is not working in PDP, they move to ACN.

    “If it is not working for them in CAN, they rush off to CPC or APGA. We must develop and nurture our democracy to build our nation. I don’t believe in political prostitution.

    “My party – PDP, is having challenges in Ogun State but I have remained in PDP”.

    The Egba Chief, who said he lost his ministerial appointment to cabinet reshuffle during the administration of late Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua due to the local politics Ogun PDP, said he does not have now any aspiration for elective office at the state or national level.