The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PDP

  • Tinubu to PDP, others: you ignored facts

    Tinubu

    THOSE posting misleading remarks and publishing fabricated reports on the recent visit of action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to the National Convention of the Democratic Party in the United States (US) got a reply yesterday from the Tinubu Media Office.

    Some on-line news sites had joined issues with the ACN over its claim that its leadership was specially invited to observe the Democratic National Convention (DNC) IN Charlotte, North Carolina, US).

    Besides, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has latched onto such reports to attack the ACN and Tinubu.

    But in its reaction to the on-line reports, the Tinubu described the publications as misleading and specifically skewed to portray the CAN leadership in bad light.

    The Office said in a statement: “For the most parts, the reports are inaccurate, slanted and laced with a deliberate ploy to deceive the unsuspecting public.

    “The facts are that governor Tinubu, a long-standing supporter of the Democratic Party was invited by a senior member of the party to attend the convention. This invitation earned him a place on the Convention’s VIP list, a fact that can be easily confirmed from the DNC Security clearance list.”

    According to the Office, there was no mention anywhere in its earlier statement that American President Barack Obama personally invited Tinubu to the epoch-making event.

    It said: “Contrary to what has been erroneously reported, the press statement issued by Tinubu Media Office did not anywhere mention or claim that President Obama personally signed a letter or issued a “gold card” inviting Governor Tinubu.

    “The gold card stated in the press statement infers a VIP status. A perusal of the original press statement will reveal that no such claim was ever made.”

    “We recognize that media houses are at liberty to cast headlines that promote and sell their papers, hence, the miss-representations, but insist not to be quoted out of context.

    “However, from the recent online and newspaper reports, it is very clear that those responsible never read the full press statement or mischievously chose to ignore the facts in order to score cheap political points. There is no iota of truth in their claim that money was paid to obtain tickets.

    “And these publications have offered no shred of proof about money paid to purchase any ticket. They have no proof to justify their claim that the statement issued stated that Obama personally signed an invitation.

    “They never spoke with anyone in the Tinubu media office to seek clarifications and ended up running a one-sided and heavily slanted story.

    “The decision of the leading members of the Democratic Party who invited Governor Tinubu to the Convention is no doubt informed by the recognition of his long standing relationship with top members and support for the party.

    “Governor Tinubu attended the Convention in his right as the National Leader of Nigeria’s second largest party- the , Action Congress of Nigeria – and most importantly, his status as a leading voice for change in the country and indeed as a former Senator of the Federal Republic and former Governor of Lagos State for eight-years.

    “We urge media outlets that will rather ignore the substance of a story, or miss-interprete portions of statement issued to serve a specific agenda to re-trace their steps in the interest of journalistic integrity.”

  • PDP: Tottering to dead end?

    OBASANJO

    The fear expressed on Monday by the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, on the state of the party, seems to point to the daunting task before it in planning to consolidate its hold on the national political structure. Assistant Editors AUGUSTINE AVWODE and DADA ALADELOKUN examine the state of the polity just one year after the last general elections.

     

    Monday’s lamentation by the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic

    Party (PDP) Alhaji Bamanga Tukur may not be life-threatening for the party, but is sufficiently ominous for members to ponder its significance. The PDP, since its inception in 1998, has commanded a large following across the country. Its string of electoral successes, by whatever means, positioned it as the party of destination for many politicians in the different parts of the country.

    In the 13 years since the return to democratic governance in 1999, the PDP has controlled the Federal Government, majority of the states and local governments.

    In the 1999 general elections, the party won in a landslide fashion. It not only won the presidential election, it won the governorship election in 21 states, 59 Senatorial and 206 House of Representativesseats.

    In 2003 the party was credited with more votes as it produced the president and 28 governors, leaving the remaining political parties with control of eight states. The PDP swept through the Southwest in one of the most vicious electoral heists recorded in the country. At the end of the day, only former governor of Lagos State Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was left standing.

    The PDP also defeated the All Nigeria People Party(ANPP) in Kogi and Kwara States. It however, lost to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra State when Dr. Chris Ngige’s election was overturned by the Appeal Court sitting in Enugu on March 15, 2006.

    Buoyed up by the ‘fantastic performance’ of the party, the PDP national chairman, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, declared in 2009, that the party would rule for 60 years. The statement instantly elicited sharp criticisms from the opposition which alleged that the PDP was trying to rob salt into injury since it was generally perceived that it had perfected a rigging formula which the opposition could not unravel.

    But, undaunted by the criticisms and condemnation, one-time interim chairman of the party, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, declared that the party would, in fact, rule Nigeria forever. Baraje reportedly made the statement while inaugurating a committee to review the party’s constitution in Abuja in 2011. He said it would be near impossible to wrest the nation’s governance from the grip of the PDP because of the “satisfactory performance” of the party’s elected officials.

    Following the seemingly “electoral invincibility” of the party, it started calling itself the largest and biggest party in Africa.

    At the height of it, governors found it convenient to dump their parties without as much as blinking an eye to join the ‘ruling party’. And the PDP in turn received such defecting governors with much fanfare, saying it was politically sagacious for states not to be in the “opposition”.

     

    A twist in the tale

     

    As the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) notched up one legal victory after the other, it became apparent that the claim of near invincibility was only temporary. In the 2011 general election, the opposition cut the PDP’s dominance to size in a considerable manner that sent jitters down the spine of the ruling party.

    For the first time, the opposition’s impact was felt in the polity in a way it never happened since 1999. The election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwah was made possible largely because of the resolve of the opposition not to dance to the dictates of the Presidency and the party over the choice of who becomes the number Four Citizen.

    Whereas the Presidency and the PDP preferred Hon Mulikat Akande, the House went for Tambuwah and had its way even with top chieftains of the PDP watching proceedings from the gallery.

    Apart from losing the six Southwest states to both the ACN and the Labour Party; in the Southeast, it lost Imo to APGA; lost Edo to the ACN in the Southsouth but won Kano from the ANPP.

    Today, defection, for the once-acclaimed “big happy family” seemingly protected from the elements by an equally “big umbrella”, is a source of major concern for the leadership of the party. The party’s Achilles heel is internal wrangling which has spurned much discontent and subsequent defection from it to even less-appealing parties.

    To Tukur, the effects of factional crisis within the party is gradually taking a big toll on it as it is losing members. And as a measure to halt the drift and end the trend Tukur has been preaching total reconciliation and reintegration of disgruntled members.

    As he attempted to save the party from itself in Kano, Tukur set up an eight-man committee led by the former Minister of Culture, Alabo Graham Douglas, to reconcile the factional group in the state.

    It was while inaugurating the Graham Douglas committee, that he voiced the “truth of the matter”. Tukur conceded, for whatever reason, that: “Our party is losing membership due to this crisis. It was not like this when we started this party. People left the party due to several misunderstanding. There are many factions within the PDP. It is the duty of this committee to reconcile them and bring them under one big umbrella.”

    The implication of living with continuous crisis is patently clear and the grand old man admitted it. To him, the party cannot win elections as long as internal crises persist in the party.

    His words: “I don’t want crisis in PDP. We lost elections because of factions, misunderstanding. We cannot continue like this. It is one of the cardinal principles of campaign to ensure reconciliations within the party. When we reconcile, we build the party, peace, unity and justice.”

    Tukur explained that though there are bound to be crises in PDP because of its large followership, but where such crisis are left unaddressed, there would be problem during election period, hence the need to commence the reconciliation now.

     

    Crises-ridden chapters

     

    Many state chapters of the PDP are badly fractured by internal crises. The case of Ogun State in the Southwest is so pronounced that it has been blamed as the cause of the party’s miserable performance in the 2011 general election. So far, all efforts to end it and forge a common front in the party within the state have failed to yield positive result. While some claim that there are as many as four factions of the party in the state, others say they are only three or two.

    The prominent factions are those loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo; former governor Gbenga Daniel and Chief Kashamu Buruji. Recently, there have been accusation and counter accusation over allegation that the factional leader of the party, Kashamu is the one fuelling the crisis, just as the Kashamu camp equally alleged that Obasanjo was the one “killing” the party in the state.

    The crisis which predates the 2011 election led to the emergence of a new party, the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN). Since then, it has been a case of the falcon failing to hear the falconer for the party’s chapter in the state. And as if to confirm the fears of Tukur, three lawmakers in the Ogun State House of Assembly elected on the platform of the PDP on Tuesday defected to the ACN. The defectors are Adeyemi Harrison (ogun-Waterside), Olusola Sonuga (Ikenne) and Babatunde Edunjobi (Egbado South). As to be expected, they claimed that the crisis in the PDP is one of the reasons why they left the party.

    As the crisis in Ogun PDP persists, it may be a tall order to reclaim the state from ACN if it fails to put its house in order before the next election.

    In Edo State, the crisis that engulfed the state for almost four years led to the trouncing of the party in the recent governorship election in the state by the ACN. Though the triumph of the ruling ACN was predictable, owing to the sterling performance of Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the defeat of the PDP was made all the more pronounced by the fact that the chapter had been paralysed by internal crises. Nobody knew that the ACN would defeat the PDP with such a large margin so much so that the national and state leadership of the party deemed it unnecessary to challenge the result in court.

    In Anambra State, almost all the people who emergee flag bearers for other parties were former members of the PDP. The Senator representing Anambra Central today, Senator Chris Ngige, was a former governor of the state on the platform of the PDP. Less than two months ago, another Senator who served on the platform of the PDP in the state, Annie Okonkwo, dumped the party for APGA.

    In Oyo State, prominent members of the PDP have dumped the party for Accord. It was regarded as unprecedented that, after election, members of a bigger party would defect to a smaller political party.

    The crisis of confidence rocking the Bayelsa chapter is yet to subside as former Governor Timipre Sylva and his supporters remain implacably opposed to the new administration. In Plateau State, Governor Jonah Jang is in charge. He demonstrated his political sagacity at the polls last year despite the broad division that saw a horde of members defect to the Labour Party with former Deputy Governor Pauline Tallen. After the election, many of those who took sides with Tallen are making efforts to return but have been told to stay away by the governor who is leader of the party. This is contrary to the position of the Tukur leadership preaching reconciliation.

    In Ekiti State, the return of former Governor Ayo fayose to the party is causing ripples, as the zonal leader of the party, Mr. Oni would not brood the development. This is reportedly keeping away many of those who would have loved to return to the party in the state

    These are just some of the many states where internal crisis has remained the major bane of the party and therefore threatening its good fortune, particularly, the 2015 general election.

     

    No cause for alarm

     

    Any apprehension over the future of PDP, especially as regards the 2015 polls, to the party’s chairman in Ekiti State, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, “is the imagination of the party’s opposition.”

    Ogundipe, who spoke with The Nation yesterday, said that contrary to such negative insinuations, the party was waxing stronger. ‘In fact, it is not all about 2015; it is about the fact that the party remains the one in the eyes of the people. It is as solid as ever.

    ‘If two or three persons defected in Ogun State, it is, numerically speaking, insignificant; it has nothing negative to do with the stature of the party. Besides, these are politicians. So, it is nothing to cry about. We are on ground and will win any election any day.’

    The Director of Media for PDP in Osun State, Mr. Diran Odeyemi, dismissed fears being nursed in certain quarters over the future of the party. Making particular reference to the defection on Tuesday, of three Ogun State PDP lawmakers to the ACN as well as other such defections, he said: ‘There is nothing to worry about over that; it is normal in politics. What about thousands that have in the past defected to PDP from other parties? And it must be noted that many do defect to the party of the moment at any level possibly to get contracts and curry other such favours from the government of the day. Besides, as we speak, thousand are defecting to PDP today somewhere on Osun State where I stay. It is nothing to feel worried about. Our party remains strong and the one to beat.’

    Then, The Nation asked: “But sincerely, do you think your party, the PDP stands any chance in 2015, going by the fears expressed by its national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, earlier in the week?” Odeyemi’s response: “I often laugh off such fears whenever anybody expresses them over PDP and 2015. It is laughable because the party remains rock-solid and will come tops in any election, either in 2015, before or beyond. It is all about the pedigree of the emerging candidates in such elections. It is about what he or she can offer the people. So, PDP is not undergoing any peculiar problem that could threaten its chance in 2015; we are fully on ground.”

    But with the determination by opposition parties to sink their differences and form a formidable alliance to confront the PDP in 2015, will the party’s fortune blossom or suffer reversal? Only time can tell.

  • Buhari: PDP must be stopped in 2015

    Buhari

    Former Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of making Nigeria difficult to stabilise because of what he calls its penchant for rigging elections.

    The 2011 presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) vowed to join forces with other well-meaning Nigerians to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2015.

    Speaking with our correspondent in an interview in his Kaduna home, Gen, Buhari said opposition parties’ merger plans were on course so that they could defeat the PDP in 2015.

    Besides, he said the Boko Haram insurgency, in which many have been killed, was caused by injustice.
    His words: “The type of rigging pattern perfected by the PDP must be stopped. People must be allowed to vote for candidates of their choice. If our election processes are free, fair and credible, there will be no problem in Nigeria. But the PDP government is making the country very difficult to stabilise with its rigging pattern.

    “This is the evil that we have to fight in this country to move forward. I have said it so many times that multi-party democracy system is the best.

    “Elections must be free and fair. That is what the CPC is all about. I couldn’t get it done in the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), but God willing, we will realise this ambition.
    “The only thing that will stabilise this multi-party democracy system is to have free and fair elections. All hands must be on deck to ensure this; unless that is done, those who are in government will not sit up and ensure social justice.
    On Boko Haram, the former military ruler believes injustice is at the root of the problem. “The PDP has said that they will rule forever and I know this is not possible, Gen. Buhari said, adding: “I am sure if you go down memory lane, you will see what we have gone through. In 2010 when opposition parties tried to merge and form an alliance, there was no time. And there must be understanding from parties to accept an alliance.

    “Now, the time is on our side. The ACN, the CPC and the ANPP have realised now that to defeat PDP, opposition parties must come together. The merger is on course.”

    In a swift reaction, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, welcomed Gen. Buhari’s call for opposition parties to form an alliance to defeat the PDP.

    Metuh, who spoke to our correspondent on telephone yesterday, encouraged Gen. Buhari and his allies in the opposition parties to go ahead and form the mega alliance against the PDP, stressing that if the PDP loses in a free and fair election, the party will accept defeat.
    He said: “We encourage as many opposition parties as possible to form alliance against the PDP to fight future elections. If they win in a free and fair election, the PDP will respect the will of the people.

    “We are not against free and fair elections. We are not against alliance against the PDP. What we are against is violence and distortion of facts. We are against inciting the people against constituted authority in the land. We are against threats and tendencies that tend to heat up the system.”

    According to Metuh, the PDP has delivered on its electoral promises and that the ruling party “would continue to deliver on its manifesto”.
    He said the party had made it clear to its political office holders at all levels that their chances of securing tickets for the 2015 elections will be based on performance.

  • ‘PDP must give presidential ticket to the North in 2015’ – Senator Abdullahi Adamu

    How would you explain the general perception that the legislature in Nigeria tends to tow the line of government to the detriment of the collective interest of the people?

    Well, it is an unfortunate phenomenon; part of it induced by public opinion in their understanding of what is happening; some induced by the act of the parliamentarians themselves.

    You may have an issue which is on the front burner of public opinion, but maybe, the reality and the crux of debate is such that does not seem to be in tune with what the public wants.

    Sometimes it may happen and I say it is for the legislators to try and get an understanding of the public in that kind of situation.

    But every Parliament worth its name is supposed to be the voice of the people.

    You cannot claim to represent people and then your opinion is different from that of the people you represent.

    But the executive arm holds the official instrument of state, and there are moments when there are disagreements over issues where the Parliament says they were not consulted; may be their views were not sought by the executive, and maybe it is an executive bill and they decide to go their separate ways on the debate, and the executive might not be happy.

    The only thing is where there is a misfortune that the executive is not working in tandem with the interest of the public.

    Take the oil subsidy as an example, the President got the voice very clearly and had to review the position that they said he took.

    So it is sometimes a counterpart kind of thing, it must be driven by goodwill, sincerity and good faith; nobody is seeking to undo the other.

    We are supposed to complement one another along the line.

    What has been your experience as a Senator since you were elected last year?

    One has been through some level of apprenticeship because no matter your background, no matter past experiences, once you get into new callings, you must learn the ropes to understand how things are done.

    But the most fundamental thing is the parliamentary tradition and practice; if you don’t get to be in tune with them, you will be surprised that you may not be able to make the kind of mark you ordinarily will desire to make.

    So, for us, those of us who are first timers, it’s been a period of learning and we are learning, but notwithstanding that, we have been able to make contributions where the situation permitted and I feel that one could have done more but in a house with about 108 equals, under the supervision of one person, each time there is a debate, you count your stars if you want to make a contribution and the eyes of the president are able to see your desire and your hand before you are given the permission to make contributions.

    Sometimes, you get identified, sometimes you may not, because not every person will get to talk on one issue.

    It’s been a very worthy experience for me.

    I have made new friends and I have seen that this 7th Senate is the richest that the country has had in this dispensation, in terms of experience and party background.

    There are (former) military and civilian governors; Senior Advocates, captains of industry.

    So there is quite a good mix of persons, and for me today, I thank God that I am there; we are learning.

    Would you say that your inability to contribute at one time or another may have hampered your effective performance?

    It is a normal thing in every Parliament. There is a person in the House of Representatives they call the Speaker; I am a Senator, the Senate President is the chair, he presides over every session.

    Once there is an issue or a motion that is being debated or an issue of public interest comes before the hallowed chamber that you want to talk about, there are others who also want to talk about them.

    But there are situations when you do want to make a contribution on a particular issue and you are not lucky to be identified by the presiding officer and what happened to you today may as well happen to another Senator tomorrow.

    Well, it is the culture of parliamentary practice but it is very exciting.

    What is your view on the creation of states?

    To be honest with you, I was part of the agitation for the creation of Nasarawa state.

    I thank God we got it and I thank God that we were able to realise an ambition which we believe held the promise for actualising our dream as a people in the context of the Nigerian family.

    But governors in some states are unable to pay salaries.

    So the question now is, will we do the right thing?

    I am a Senator, I don’t want to pre-empt the National Assembly because we have an ad-hoc Committee on Constitution Review, they are coming out and I don’t want to pre-empt what we should do or should not do.

    But, I believe very strongly that we need to take a more serious look into the growing agitation.

    I headed Nasarawa State when we were at the rock bottom of the ladder of revenue allocation in this country.

    When I became governor, Nasarawa was mobilising under half a million naira internally generated revenue, the records are there.

    Under one million naira and I had a work force of over 10, 000 civil servants.

    We inherited foreign loan of between N20 to N22 billion Naira; from our days in Benue/Plateau State to the days in Plateau State to Nasarawa.

    We were able to do what we did to stay afloat. But with what is going on today, with the threat (of total dependence on oil); we have some level of peace in the Niger Delta but everybody now is virtually being held hostage because they have oil and Nigeria is limping on that one foot called oil and gas; everybody is being held hostage and if tomorrow the militants strike and production goes down, we are in trouble.

    I don’t see the country being held hostage more than that and that again is reason for me supporting any serious look at agriculture. So it is not for me to say yes there should be or there should be no states, but I can only give an analogy of the situation at hand.

    On state police, some people have argued for and others against. On which side of the divide do you stand and why?

    Well, I don’t know, but I think the issue is now becoming an issue for blackmail, so I don’t want to discuss it.

    We have now tilted off reason, it is now blackmail. If you say you want state police, you are labelled whatever; if you say you don’t want state police, you are labelled. It has been reduced to that and I don’t belong to that school of thought.

    Internal party wrangling within the PDP has the potential of dimming the fortunes of the party in the nearest future and some upcoming parties are seen to be cashing on the situation.How do you react to this?

    I will work for PDP to the tail end. I will not forget, at the formative stage of the National Party of Nigeria, I had the opportunity of serving at the Constituent Assembly that produced the 1979 constitution and when the parties were being formed we were the young set and, to the elder statesmen then, we were the errand boys, but we were involved, effectively.

    And I remember writing a letter to Mallam Aminu Kano because I was more inclined; it was my first calling and I was more inclined to going for PRP (Peoples Redemption Party).

    That was my natural inclination.

    My parents were NPN to the root, my parents, grandparents were traditional rulers and I had difficulty shaking off what’s in me, but at the same time as a politician in the making, my attraction was towards Aminu Kano, his brand of politics.

    I was at the meeting and I personally felt he was insulted when he was asked to become the Publicity Secretary of NPN.

    I later went to Kano to see him; he was campaigning in some villages; you know Belgore, when you pass through Saminaka from Jos, near the tributary of Kogin Kano, a large fishing community, he said my prayer for you is that you should go and continue to be with them (NPN) and stay there like the rock of Gibraltar. I will never forget that.

    So, I will tell you that with PDP I am there until either death do us part or Nigerian political development do us part. But as long as I am in PDP, I am PDP inside out, I will continue to work for PDP irrespective of the problems that we encounter.

    Even if the party veers off the course you were committed to…

    The problems yes, the noise you hear yes, it is part of it; I call it the sound of democracy.

    But my only appeal is that the leadership of the party should not self-destruct, we must not destroy the party from our own doings or misdeeds; we must not contribute to its failure.

    Before we talk of discipline, we must see discipline from the highest level of the party, down because there is no point you talk of discipline, and you are not disciplined yourself, it does not make sense.

    The leadership of the party must help in the inculcation of the spirit of leadership, they must be people of their words, they must set examples.

    I believe that the present set of national officers (of PDP) intends good and we will make it possible for them to do good for the party.

    We will wait there is a lot of noise in Nasarawa State, a lot of noise in Akwa-Ibom, Maiduguri, Borno, in Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara states everywhere you go.

    So, but for me it is a natural phenomenon for political parties but sometimes we take all these things too far.

    When we see parties doing wrong, we tolerate them to do wrong but when some other party does wrong somewhere else you punish, it doesn’t make for good followership.

    So my hope and prayer is that the leadership will help by doing good to ensure that there is discipline in the party and that we do not self-destruct.

    But me, you can count on me, I have just done a programme today I am doing so to promote PDP and because before we stood election; those of us who did stand elections we had manifesto and did what we said during the campaigns.

    We “work our talk” that’s the key.

    Recently, the state executive of the PDP held a reconciliation meeting…

    As far as I am concerned, there is no state executive in PDP. I went to the national headquarters and told them.

    I stand with the concerned group because they saw me as an elder; they came to share their thoughts about the party with me and I did share their thoughts, and I do understand where they are coming from and where they want to take the party to.

    I share in their emotion and sentiments; I share in the sacrifices they make for promoting PDP and I share with them about their concern for the failure of PDP in the state.

    I will work with them until somebody tells me or shows me why I shouldn’t.

    If I hear a superior argument, I will bow, but until then, I am working with them and we will hoist the PDP flag.

    Some former governors are agitating for Governor Kwankwaso to be the next President. If PDP gives the ticket to the North in 2015, will you support him?

    That is not a fair question; has Kwankwaso said he wants to be President?

    But PDP has no choice than to give the North (in 2015); I want to believe in that. Kwankwaso is more than a friend to me, Kwankwaso is my brother, we started with PDP together, we were governors together, he had some misfortune midway in his governorship, he didn’t win his second election he became a minister of defense, he has been elected again in Kano after eight years he is back in the saddle, and he is doing a good job.

    But if he comes out to say he want to be president, let’s wait and see, if he say so; I don’t cross bridges until I reach them.

    I believe that everybody is saying the same thing (North president for 2015); I believe that the north should have a crack at it again.

    I believe that, it is no sin. We have a right to it like everybody has. Of course, the real thing is, we deserve to have it again.

    You take it or leave it; for political fortunes or misfortunes; the country is divided; it is North and South, because these are the bare facts; it’s either North or South.