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Tag: PDP’s

  • ‘PDP’s call for result selfish’

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday rejected the call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the result of the inconclusive Osun State governorship election to be announced in its favour.

    In a statement, the party said: “The All Progressives Congress (APC) hail the Osun electorate; Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); security agencies and stakeholders over the conduct of Saturday’s inconclusive governorship election in the state, which was largely peaceful despite some reported irregularities.

    “While we continue to improve on our electoral processes, particularly correcting some irregularities witnessed in Saturday’s election, the APC commends the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, which has continually exhibited its commitment to ensuring that elections are more peaceful, transparent, credible and acceptable.

    “This is a departure from the situation under past Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administrations where the people’s will was subverted and elections were manipulated. We hereby reject the PDP’s baseless calls that the inconclusive Osun governorship election is announced in its favour.

    “In the leadup to the rerun election, we call on the Osun electorate, party supporters and members to remain upbeat and focused on the task of consolidating on the APC Change administration in the state by voting for the victory of our candidate, Gboyega Oyetola.”

    The statement was signed by Mr. Yekini Nabena, the Acting National Publicity Secretary.

  • PDP’s burden of reconciliation

    The Governor Seriake Dickson-led National Reconciliatory Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was set up to resolve the party’s post-convention crisis, has submitted its report to National Chairman Uche Secondus. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the report of the committee and the party’s chances in 2019.

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reconciliatory committee headed by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has submitted its report to the party’s National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus. The committee was set up to resolve the dispute over Secondus’ emergence as the National Chairman.

    According to Dickson, the committee recommended that the PDP should return the party to the people, constitute all its standing committees, deliberately carve responsibilities for women and youths, give a sense of belonging to South-west leaders in the party, woo those who left the PDP to return to its fold and above all, lead a coalition of all other parties to win more states and form the government at the centre. The committee also advised the PDP National Working Committee and its leaders to forgive erring members and promote peace in the fold, not to take issues with ourselves and even those who have left the party.

    Against all expectations that the committee will restore peace and unity among members some PDP chieftains have dumped the party. For instance a leading aspirant for the position of National Chairman of the party, Professor Tunde Adeniran and a founding member of the PDP, Professor Jerry Gana had defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) before the committee submitted its report.

    It appears the reconciliation was an exercise in futility. Initially, the Dickson-led committee had raised hope of restoring peace in the PDP giving the warm reception accorded it by the aggrieved members and the promise that they would not to leave the party. Adeniran who lost to Secondus gave some words of inspiration to the committee when they visited him. He advised Dickson to reach out to all candidates and as many members of the party in the bid to reconcile. He said it was important to also reach out to as many members of the PDP who did not contest for any position but fought gallantly to ensure the preservation of the party.

    “We should try to interact with various players; I will suggest that we should not leave any stone unturned to reach out as much as possible. There are those of us who carried the flag, but there are some others who are key players in this party, who may not even contest for positions but they are no less concerned about the party.”

    On his part, Gana said he would never leave the PDP for whatever reason and promised to play a role in salvaging the party. Analysts believe there must have been some negative developments that provoked these chieftains to change their minds and turn their back against the PDP.

    Another reason to suggest that the reconciliatory efforts did not succeed was the statement credited to a chieftain of the PDP and the former Minister of Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe that the party had nothing more to offer Nigerians. Orubebe who attempted to disrupt the collation of 2015 presidential election results at the national collation centre and confronted the former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said “the PDP is still lost in depression and suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder”. He also referred to the PDP as a party of shame, receding into the abyss of political reality.

    Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu took many unaware when he revealed how he hadrigged elections for the PDP by providing financial inducements to officials involved in the conduct of polls. Though Mantu has not defected from the party but he is already eyeing another political platform. Analysts had expected that the PDP would come out stronger and united after the reconciliation.

    A political scientist, Professor Ayo Olukotun, said: “We cannot determine the success or failure of the PDP reconciliatory committee on those that have dumped the party. He explained that if the PDP still have critical mass with them, the committee can claim relative success; if not we can say they have failed. The relative importance of those who remain and those who left the party will determine the success or failure of the reconciliation committee.”

    Olukotun who teaches political science at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State however said “the gale of defection suffered by the PDP in recent time is a pointer that the party still has a lot to do to appease the minds of the aggrieved members. According to him, it is a fall out of the convention; the disaffection is coming from that angle. You can see that the convention went against the Southwest, the zone that was initially agreed on to produce the national chairman of the PDP. Many PDP chieftains from the South-West have kept silence and distanced themselves from the party because their candidate, Professor Adeniran was defeated. Unless the PDP leadership appease their minds, the party will lose them”.

    He faulted the PDP’s approach towards regaining power. His words: “PDP lacks a platform. Apology is an attempt to rebrand but it is not enough. They are banking on relatively poor performance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to bounce back to power. PDP is thinking people are completely disenchanted with the APC performance and that the PDP is the alternative. PDP knows what it is against but it does not know what it stands for. They have not told us what they have in stock for the electorate, their programme. It is not enough to tell us APC is a failure but let us know your programme; how you intend to perform better than the ruling party if given the mandate”.

    On whether PDP can regain power in 2019, Olukotun said “we can’t determine that without conducting opinion poll. But the odds are too many for PDP: the party is bedevilled with internal crisis, there is the narrative that it is the most corrupt party in the world, it has been blacklisted in the minds of the people. They have to move from the binge of negative stereotyping before they can gain the confidence of Nigerians.”

    He said each political party has its advantage and weakness. According to him, “the APC has the advantage of incumbency and weak performance as its disadvantage. But the PDP is perceived as immensely corrupt and seen as the underdog. There are people that are yet to decide which party to vote for in 2019, they are watching the direction of victory before making up their minds. However, the odds for now favour APC.”

    A youth activist and PDP member, Malam Shehu Ibrahim said he had written off the Seriake Dickson-led reconciliation committee even before it started work.  According to him, the Niger Delta people have destroyed the party. Governor Nyesom Wike has taken over the party. He dictates the tune. You can see all the presidential aspirants rushing to Port Harcourt to seek his blessing.

    “If the reconciliation was successful why is the PDP losing members to the APC and other parties? Things are not normal with the PDP anymore. The northern PDP leaders have kept silence since the end of the convention because they felt betrayed with the way and manner Wike deployed a huge sum of money to truncate the party arrangement. Prior to the convention, the PDP leaders in the North had agreed that the position of National Chairman should go to the South-West and they endorsed Professor Tunde Adeniran for the job. But the new power broker from the South-South changed that deciosion. It is not only South-West that was hurt by the outcome of the convention, the north was also offended.

    “You can’t expect PDP Yoruba leaders to forget how they were treated before and during the convention. Wike referred to them as liability, saying that they didn’t contribute anything to the party. The truth of the matter is that PDP is now a regional party. I don’t know how PDP will get out of this self inflicted problem.”

    Lawyer and human right activist, Monday Ubani has ruled out the possibility of PDP winning election in the South-West in 2019. He said with the gale of defection from the PDP to the APC, it will be very difficult for the opposition to turn the table against the ruling party. He said the defection was a fall out of the convention. The outcome of the convention is taking its toll on the popularity of the PDP and its chances in 2019.

    He described the PDP reconciliation as an after-thought that will not yield any positive result. I don’t think PDP big wigs in Yoruba land will easily forget how they were schemed out by the power brokers at the convention; I don’t think they would be persuaded by the reconciliation overtures after denying them the chairmanship of the party.

    Ubani said “no amount of reconciliation will assuage the feelings of the people of South-West. Nigerians will prefer the APC to continue the rescue mission, rather than allow the PDP to come and destroy the new foundation being laid by the ruling party. It will be very difficult for the PDP to win election in 2019 because Nigerians have not forgotten the havoc it wreaked on the economy which had resulted in economic hardship that Nigerians are still battling with”.

    A legal scholar, Dr Israel Adeogun has advised the leadership of the PDP not to take things for granted that all is well with the party. He said the antics of Wike and his clique would continue to destabilise the former ruling party. “As long as there are aggrieved party members whose grievances have not been resolved by the reconciliatory committee, the party would remain vulnerable. Though the committee visited aggrieved party leaders in the Southwest but there was no commitment from them.

    “The convention had created so much distrust in the PDP that party members view one another with suspicion. I don’t think the PDP is ready to regain power in 2019. How can an opposition party dislodge the ruling party when it has not put its house in order.

    The task before Uche Secondus now is to rebuild the party by bringing every group on board. This is not the time for PDP to engage in chest beating or discriminating against any group for it to regain its lost glory.”

  • ‘We are yet to receive PDP’s anti-open grazing bill’

    Edo State House of Assembly Speaker Kabiru Adjoto has denied claims by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that a bill seeking to ban open grazing was sent to the Assembly.

    He said what the House received was “a mere letter, which we received from the post office, talking about open grazing and not a bill.”

    PDP Chairman Chief Dan Orbih, at a lecture organised by the Gatekeepers, said the passage of the bill would stop clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers.

    Ex-Benue State Commissioner for Works and Transport Mr. John Ngbede said the passage of the bill would stop Fulani herdsmen’s destructive activities.

    But Adjoto, in an interview with reporters, said it was wrong for the PDP to post a letter and call it a bill.

    He said bills were not sent through the post office, but presented as private members’ bills or sponsored with names of the sponsors on them.

    The Speaker said the PDP should have asked its lawmakers on the procedure to present a bill, instead of passing a letter as a bill.

    He said: “There is a procedure for everything. The PDP knows the address of the Edo State House of Assembly. They know how to present a private member bill or sponsor a bill. They cannot go to a post office and post a letter, saying it is a bill. We don´t even know the person that sent it.

    “They used PDP letterhead, but nobody signed it. Who are the sponsors of the bill if it was a bill they sent to us? Those who are sponsoring it should put their names on it. PDP as a party is not the name of a person. If actually they intended to send a bill, it means they have not followed the procedure. They simply went to the post office and sent the letter to members, using the address of the House of Assembly.

    “We have PDP lawmakers in the house and if actually they are confused about how to send a bill, they should have used those ones as sponsors. There should be the names of the sponsors if it is a bill they actually sent. It should be sent to the House of Assembly, not the post office.

    “What they sent was a mere letter; we need to know who is sponsoring the bill. They should follow the proper channel in sending it to the house and as the representatives of the people, once the proper channel is followed, we will treat the bill, but as it is now, in the eyes of the law, they have not done anything.

    “A bill is not something you send through the post office. The process of lawmaking is not mama akara business. If they are sincere about what they claimed they did, they should have consulted those ones and even pass the bill through any of them.”

  • Okowa’s, PDP’s witnesses admit excess voting

    The Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG), Mr. Festus Ovie Agas, yesterday admitted that excess votes were credited to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the April 11 governorship election, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Okowa winner of the poll.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the election, Olorogun O’tega Enerhor, challenged Okowa’s victory, alleging electoral malpractice.

    The defence, which opened yesterday, summoned two witnesses – Ikechukwu Akazor and the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Festus Ovie Agas.

    The SSG admitted that excess votes were credited to Okowa.

    The witnesses, during cross-examination, said the card readers were to be used to verify genuine Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), adding that only voters with genuine PVCs were to be allowed to vote in the election.

    But this is contrary to their lawyers’ pleas that it was proper for INEC to resort to manual accreditation.

    Agas said the 724,680 votes credited to Okowa by INEC were more than the original 715,393.

    Akazor submitted that INEC’s instruction was that card readers be used for the conduct of the election, adding that where they failed, the election was to be conducted the following day.

    APC and Emerhor are challenging the results of the election at the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Asaba, the state capital.

  • Jega aborts PDP’s plot to annul poll results

    Former Niger Delta Affairs Minister Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe failed yesterday to stir up trouble at the collation of Saturday’s presidential election results in Abuja.

    Orubebe and other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agents were, apparently, planning to abort the process.

    But Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman  Prof. Attahiru Jega was calm all through.

    Shortly before the resumption of collation of results at about 11.15am, Orubebe raised a point of observation. Jega obliged. The ex-minister got the microphone and launched into a bitter criticisms of the process. He kicked against INEC’s decision to probe alleged election malpractices in Rivers State.

    He also accused Jega of making the results of the Presidential Election available to the All Progressives Congress( APC).

    At about 11.34am, Orubebe moved to the red platform where the results were being collated and hurled abuses at Jega.

    Though agents are barred from getting to the platform, a charged Orubebe, who was wearing a ash colour blazer with a black hat, sat on the red carpet about 10 meters to Jega and started screaming.

    He was later joined by the second agent of PDP, Dr. Bello Fadile, in challenging Jega.

    Apparently acting a script for some forces, one of them was intermittently receiving calls in the midst of the confusion they created.

    The more the calls came in, the more Orubebe was emboldened to charge at Jega.

    The drama left National Commissioners bewildered but Jega remained calm and insisted that the collation must go on.

    He ignored Oribebe’s demand to suspend the collation and return to the office to investigate PDP’s petition(s) on results from Kano, Jigawa and other states in the Northwest.

    Orubebe, who was blocked by a police officer from advancing towards Jega on the platform, said the PDP had lost confidence in Jega.

    He said: “We have lost confidence in what you are doing. We have lost confidence in what you are doing. If we can send a protest and you cannot take that protest then what are we doing here. The essence of sending any protest is to enable you to look at the matter and see whether it has merit or demerit.

    “But when APC brought their own, you went all out to send a delegation to Port Harcourt. We have complained about Kano, we have complained about Katsina, we have complained about Kaduna, and Jigawa you have not done anything.

    “Mr. Chairman, we are not going to take that, we have lost confidence  in you because you are partial, you are selective. We don’t believe in you any more. We don’t believe in you any more. We cannot go on the way you are going because you have compromised. You have compromised. You have compromised and we are not going to take it from you, until something is done on our letters, we will not continue with you.

    “Until you do something to our letter the way you did to APC, we will not continue with you. That is our stand, we will not. Until you do something the way you did to APC we will not continue with you.”

    Orubebe resisted attempts to collect the microphone from him.

    He added: “The press should look at this ( a purported result sheet) is already printed. We can not take it. You are tribalistic, you are selective. You are tribalistic, you are selective, you are partial; we will not take it from you.

    “Until something is done to our protest we will not allow you to continue with this. You will not. We will not allow it. Nigerians will not allow this. Nigerians will not allow this. This matter must be taken seriously; we will not allow it. We will not allow it. Look at the result that has already been printed by Jega and APC. Look at it. The press should take it. This is already printed by Jega and APC. We will not take it. Look At it. This was done yesterday, this was done yesterday.

    “We will not take it, we will not take it. No please. No please; this is the way Jega understand. We will not take it until something is done.

    “Until something is done. We went to Jega to complain, he did not take it; we went to him quietly, he did not take it because he was compromised. Jega had to send his people to return our protest to us. Jega had to return our protest Please, leave me, Please, leave me. Please, don’t come near me, if you need peace in this country; don’t come near me. Jega is tribalistic and partial; we will not take it. We will not take it. Let him check Kano result, let him check Kaduna result, we sent him our protest Jega didn’t take it.

    “When it came to Rivers State, he was hurrying going to Rivers State. We cannot take it. We are not fighting; we will not take it.

    “Jega, do something. Let him set up a committee. Let Jega set up a committee to go to Kano,to go to Katsinan, to go to Kaduna, to go to Jigawa; otherwise we will not take it.

    “Jega is tribalistic, he is partial he is selective, we will not take it. That is not what the constitution empower him to do for this electoral process.”

    All moves by Jega to prevail on Orubebe were rebuffed.

    The following altercations occurred between Jega and Orubebe.

    Jega: Mr Orubebe

    Orubebe: This country belongs to everybody. Jega cannot take us for granted. We will not take we will not allow it. Jega has nothing to say here, let him go back to his office to set up a committe for Kaduna, Kano.

    Jega has nothing to say here; he did not come here before he did something about Rivers State; let him go to his office. I will not leave here.

    (Jega: Please, may I respond)

    Orubebe roared: You can not respond here; you can not respond here, you cannot respond here. You did not come here to respond on the issue of Rivers State. You can not respond here; he cannot respond here.

    Jega: You have …

    Orubebe: You cannot respond here. In Rivers State, he did it in your office; let him go to his office and respond there.

    Jega: You have laid some allegations but…

    Orubebe: Go to your office and respond. Tell him to go to his office and respond to our protest. Let him go to his office and respond to our protest.

    Jega: But you made them here.

    Orubebe: You cannot respond here. In Rivers State he did it in his office; let him go to his office and respond and respond to our protest.

    “We quietly gave it to him in his office. Tell him to go to his office. Prof. Jega, please go to your office. Go to you office and do what you did in Rivers State. We can’t take; we cannot take it. He cannot do it here, he cannot do it here.

    He cannot do it here. He did it in his office; he cannot do it here. In the case of Rivers, he did it in his office, he should go to his office. Let him go to his office and do it.

    “We complained to him quietly; he refused it. He even had to send somebody to throw the papers at us.we won’t take it.”

    When another agent rose up to challenge him, Orubebe retorted: “Is Jega not present? What is wrong with you? What is wrong with you? Jega is not empowered by the constitution to be selective, to be partial; he is not empowered by the constitution to be tribalistic. That is not the power given to Jega.

    “Anyway, the point I want to make; this thing cannot continue. If Jega wants to continue I will come back here. If Jega wants to continue, I will come back here.

    Jega: can you please call the next person.

    Orubebe: Prof. Jega, you cannot continue. You cannot continue. You said you are going to respond to the issue. Prof. Jega you cannot continue. You cannot. Why is he not responding? Why did he not respond to our protest? Why did he not respond to our protest?

    Why did Jega not respond to our protest? Why is Jega not responding to our protest? When it was APC, he was quick to respond. We protested to Jega yesterday; he threw the protest at us.

    “The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria did not empower Jega to be selective, to be partial. . Jega is tribalistic and we will not take it.

    Dr. Bello Fadile said: “ Chairman sir, I think you should speak on this result we have here. If you compare with the results you have released, it is the same thing with the one that had been released and similarly with the ones here. We don’t know of the ones that have not been released.

    “The ones that have been released are similar with the one here from the situation room of APC. That is our point. Who gave them this? How did they come about this result?  We have seen the ones that have been released are the same with those that are  here from some of the states. We have compared them and that is why we are raising observations.”

    Jega was, however, cool and confident when he responded to issues raised by Orubebe and Fadile.

    He denied either refusing to accept PDP’s petition or giving results to APC.

    Jega’s cogent and lengthy explanation earned him applause from all at the NCC.

    The response left Orubebe humbled and sober when the collation of results resumed.

    Jega said: “ You made two points. One is that you submitted a petition which I refused to accept. Secondly, you claimed that there was a result released by the APC which you alleged we gave to them or I gave to them.

    “With regards to the first point, yesterday, after we went through the first batch of results and as we declared a recess until 4pm, as I was walking down back to the office, my PA came to me and said that here are some papers that Dr. Bello Fadile, a representative of the PDP, said he should collect it  and he said Dr. Fadile said I should give him those papers.

    “ I told him I did not tell Fadile to give any paper to him. I asked him to  return the papers because Fadile after we declared recess came on to this platform(as a party agent, he is not supposed to do that) and gave some documents to my PA, who is writing returns here. And I am sure some of the agents and some of the press men must have seen that. And I told my PA,  give back those documents to Fadile if he told you I told him that you should collect it; I did not. Return it to them.

    “Subsequently, Fadile sent me a text  message saying that there were petitions, and he wants to submit them. I told him we don’t collect petitions on a platform when we are declaring results. Then  he now said I should have left my office open so that  they can submit those petitions in my office. I told him that the Secretary to the Commission is not here in this  hall, she  is in her office. And her  business is to receive communications. If hey are important enough, she will bring them to me here.

    “ I have started collation, I cannot be receiving  petitions in this hall and on this platform. And when I replied that text message, he  replied again and said  ‘okay’  he  will see what  he can do, which I interpreted to mean that he was going to take that petition or whatever document he had to the Secretary to the commission.

    “ As I speak with you now, I have not  received anything from the Secretary to the commission. That is with regards with the issue of the so-called petition.

    “With regards to what you said about  results allegedly published by the APC on its website, I do not give results to anybody. The results will be announced formally by INEC as declared here. I have warned everybody to be careful  and to ensure that  they do not  dignify results which we have not officially announced.

    “So,  as  far as I am concerned, I have  not seen any results. I have not given anybody any results. For you to even engage me on that issue, I think frankly it is not fair to me. I have not seen any results; how can I speak about something I have not seen?

    “Let us be careful about what we say or do and let us not disrupt a process that has ended peacefully and in a matter of hours, we will be able to finish it. Mr. Orubebe, you were a former Minister of the Federal Republic; you are a statesman in your own right;  you should be careful about what you say or what allegations or  accusations you make and certainly you should be careful  about your public conduct.”

     

  • ‘Nigerians ’ve rejected PDP’s misrule’

    THE Kogi State All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Alhaji Haddy Ametuo, has attributed the victory of the presidential candidate of the party, General Muhammadu Buhari, in the state, to bad governance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
    In an interview with reporters in Lokoja yesterday, he said the people opted for change because they were tired of deception.
    Ametuo described the positive development as a revolution against the injustice that has pervaded the landscape under the PDP-led government since 1999, saying Nigerians deserved a better deal.

    He described General Buhari as a forthright politician, who has the interest of the masses at heart, saying the down-trodden strongly believe in his cause because of his sincerity.

    He described the winning of the three senatorial seats and six out of the nine House of Representative’s seats in the state as “brilliant”, urging party’s loyalists and supporters not to relent until the APC convincingly wins the state legislative positions on April 11.

  • ‘PDP’s deceit on creation of Ibadan State laughable’

    ‘PDP’s deceit on creation of Ibadan State laughable’

    The promise by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  to create Ibadan State out of Oyo State, if it wins the general elections, has been described as not only deceitful but also laughable by a member representing Oyo State in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Committee,  Mr Ayodeji Abass-Alesinloye.  He had a chat with BISI OLADELE and SIKIRU AKINOLA.

    Your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) was seemingly coasting home to victory in the general elections scheduled for February 2015, before the sudden postponement. How would you rate your party’s chances at the re-scheduled polls?

    Our chances are very bright. Ask the ordinary Nigerians about the two candidates and they will tell you it is General Muhammadu Buhari who so many Nigerians have seen as their incoming president, whose popularity has made the incumbent to push for the postponement of the elections.

    Do you think Buhari still has the kind of rating he had before the postponement, considering the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan has used the period of the postponement to gain foothold in the South west following his series of meetings with some Yoruba traditional rulers?

    Honestly, Buhari still has that rating. Of course, people are more prepared now and for the first time too.  We have to be honest with ourselves, we saw it coming. The popularity was too much. It was obvious and that was why they shifted the election. They had thought that by extending the election for six weeks, they would be able to correct some mistakes and that is why you see them running helter-skelter.  But unfortunately, people are just collecting his (President Jonathan’s) money,  they are more than before committed to ejecting him from Aso Rock. People want change. You give them money today but you have not been able to stop the killing and maiming of Nigerians (by the insurgents). So if you are giving money to those who cannot convince anyone to vote for you, it does not matter.

    You alleged that the PDP candidate is going round the South West, giving people money to vote. Are you saying the APC and its candidate are not doing the same?

    Yes. As I am talking to you, I can boldly say I am working like a volunteer which is okay for me. What we are saying is that we want things to change in Nigeria. And I want my name to be mentioned as part of those who effected the change. Even General Buhari did not give a dime during the primary and he won. Why? It was because we knew he has something to offer this nation. PDP has said so many things about Buhari but none has pointed to him as a corrupt man. He has not given money to anyone. We saw the tempo at which President Jonathan has been going around campaigning in the last couple of weeks, giving out money. And three out of the four weeks (he was engaged in doing this) Buhari was outside the country and still, the people love him.

    What is your take on PDP’s strident opposition to the use of the card reader in the general elections?

    On the card reader, there has never been a country where people will say they don’t want election malpractices and they will reject card reader. The card reader is like one man, one vote. Just like the umpire is canvassing for the usage of card reader, we are also re-echoing it. Why will a party like PDP be canvassing against the card reader when in actual fact, all the developed countries of the world, including those not as big and influential as Nigeria, have tested and used it? Why should our case be different? I think the whole world is going hi-tech and we cannot be left behind. I think what we are saying basically is that we as opposition party don’t want INEC to support anybody. What we want is free and fair election.

    Many states across the country have not been able to meet their financial obligations, and yet as you alleged, the PDP is doling out money to people. Don’t you think this will influence voters to vote those who can meet the immediate needs?

    Nigerians are so wise. People know what they are doing. When we had election in 2011, the rate of sophistication was not much. Go to the social media and see what is going on. Having given out the money, go and see people’s comments and reactions. Go and see the reactions of those who collected money. We know the money they are spending. Now, states cannot pay salaries. As I speak with you, February allocation has not been shared and March is going to an end. And you can see them doling out money but I pity these people who give money because Nigerians are watching. People will voice out their anger. Remember that the late Obafemi Awolowo said that a time would come when, no matter the party you are in or the tribe you come from or the status you attain, people will come under one platform to challenge their oppressor.

    The governorship candidate of the PDP in Oyo State has been promising the creation of Ibadan State if the PDP wins both governorship and presidential elections. Don’t you think that may affect the chances of your party, especially in Ibadan?

    Go and write it down, the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Oyo State  will not make the top three positions when the result of the gubernatorial election is announced. Here is a man who was in the Senate for eight years, four of which was as Senate Leader. He never for once made a move towards the creation of Ibadan State. Let him tell us what he did for Ibadan in those inglorious years. What he could not do for Ibadan as Senate Leader, can he now do it on his own? What he is saying is even not in tandem with the current reality. This is an issue that has been discussed at the national conference and which is undergoing a process in the House of Representatives. And it is not only Ibadan State. He is not doing anybody a favour as this has been on for a numbers of years. And of course, state creation is only feasible during military regime and not in a democratic dispensation. So, anytime the people hear the jingle (on his promise)  they always laugh. They would see the result.

  • Jonathan, Mu’azu clash as PDP’s hate campaign backfires

    Jonathan, Mu’azu clash as PDP’s hate campaign backfires

    A NEW crisis has broken out in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The crisis has been sparked by the party’s presidential campaign organisation’s and First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan’s attacks on some of the North’s prominent politicians.

    The hate campaign has ignited a row between President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.

    Specifically, Mu’azu and other Northern leaders in the PDP have kicked against the unrestrained vulgar attacks by the First Lady and Jonathan’s campaign spokesman, Femi Fani-Kayode, against All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    Mu’azu and other party chieftains are said to have taken exception to Mrs. Jonathan referring to Gen. Buhari as being “brain dead” without a word of caution from the President. The First Lady’s position was echoed by Fani-Kayode, who re-stated that “yes, truly, Buhari is brain dead”.

    Similarly, Mrs. Jonathan’s reference to “people in the North who breed more children than they can cater for” during one of her campaign stops in Calabar, Cross River State, is also said to the causing disquiet within the party’s leadership.

    Mrs. Jonathan had said: “Our people do not give birth to uncountable children. Our men don’t give birth to children they dump in the streets. We are not like people from that part of the country (North)”.

    In that instance, Mrs. Jonathan was apparently referring to the Almajiri system in the North, a lower stratum of children whose situation her husband claims to be addressing with the establishment of Almajiri schools in some states in the North.

    Some prominent citizens including some clerics, have continued to register their indignation over the First Lady’s utterances, wondering why Mu’azu and other Northern leading lights in the PDP would keep quiet over what they consider an assault on their collective cultural values.

    The Northern establishment is said to have taken the silence by Mu’azu and other prominent Northern chieftains of the party on Mrs. Jonathan’s verbal assaults as acquiescence or approval.

    Faced with opposition from his home base, the PDP National Chairman was said to have voiced his objection to the affront and is said to be exhibiting a lukewarm commitment to the President’s campaign.

    This is said to have caused divisions between Mu’azu and some prominent chieftains of the PDP on one hand and President Jonathan and a horde of party chieftains from the South on the other.

    But the party’s National Publicity Secretary  Chief Olisa Metuh, has denied it all. In a statement he issued on Monday, Metuh dismissed the report as “spurious” and an attempt to drag down the party chairman.

    Metuh said:”As one of the founding fathers of the PDP, the National Chairman has continued to add immense value with his mature and decent approach to issues in keeping with the tradition and vision of our great party, a disposition that has continued to attract massive support across board for our presidential flag bearer, President Goodluck Jonathan.

    “Indeed, we are aware that the aim of those behind the mischievous report is to sow seed of discord and cause confusion within our ranks, distract the leadership and undermine our presidential campaign, which is now coasting swiftly to victory to the chagrin of the opposition.

    “It is incontrovertible that the National Chairman has been at the forefront of our presidential campaign train and enjoys an excellent working relationship with President Jonathan as exhibited in their bond at rallies, visits and meetings with stakeholders across the country.

    “Whereas we recognise the zeal and enthusiasm of some of our supporters who are repaying the opposition in their own stock, our National Chairman, as the face of the PDP, has remained restrained despite numerous unwarranted provocations, a stance which does not in anyway detract from his commitment to the campaigns but reinforces our values and dedication to unity, peace and stability of our dear nation.

    “This exemplary style of politics played significant role in reducing the tension in the polity ahead of the elections and has also endeared our party to a majority of Nigerian citizens and key stakeholders in the electoral process.

    “It is to the credit of the National Chairman that his leadership stabilised our party at its critical moment and successfully achieved unity among our leaders and members while strengthening the confidence of Nigerians in the PDP as the only vehicle to deliver democracy dividends to them.”

    “Also indisputable is his deft application of wealth of experience and far-reaching connections to galvanize the entire party structure in adopting President Goodluck Jonathan as our sole presidential candidate, a project to which he has remained unflinchingly committed.

    “Since the commencement of the campaigns, our National Chairman has evolved and maintained a dynamic structure that involves members of the National Working Committee engaging in personal and group campaigns as well as strategic meetings with critical stakeholders in their respective states and zones to ensure the success of President Jonathan and other candidates of our party in the elections.

    “This is in addition to effective coordination of party structures in all the zones, states, local governments and wards across the country.

    “Finally, we wish to state categorically that the PDP remains resolute as one united family and no amount of media fabrications and malicious insinuations will distract us from our focus ahead of the elections”.

  • PDP’s likely next moves

    PDP’s likely next moves

    Will the presidency and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) simply fold its hands and take the defection of five of its governors to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in its stride? Not likely, reports Remi Adelowo

    If the party’s antecedents in settling scores with real and perceived foes are anything to go by, it is safe to conclude that the five governors who recently left the PDP for the APC all have major battles to contend with in the weeks and months ahead.

    With the disclosure by the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, that the party has not foreclosed reconciliation with its former governors, with pressures still being mounted on them to return to the PDP, indications, however, indicate that the presidency may go for broke in its bid to settle scores with the defected governors.

    Indeed, dress rehearsals of likely actions to be taken against the ‘rebel’ governors manifested several weeks ago when the agents of the government allegedly acting on ‘orders from above’ descended on the personal and business interests of the leading figures of the new PDP.

    First was the marking for demolition of an event and recreation centre in Asokoro, a highbrow area in Abuja by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA). The centre is owned by Senator Aisha Alhassan, a member of the nPDP.

    Days later, the FCDA revoked the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of a property located in Maitama reportedly belonging to the Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, on the excuse that the property failed to conform to the Abuja Master Plan.

    A further proof that the presidency would not brook any dissent was the arrest of the two sons of the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over money laundering charges.

    The young Lamidos spent a few days in EFCC custody before they were granted bail. Insinuations are rife that Governor Lamido decided against joining the APC with his five other colleagues as a result of alleged threats from powerful quarters to use his sons’ travails to get at him.

    More of such clampdown on the leaders of the group that joined the APC on Tuesday last week is said to be in the offing, The Nation has gathered.

    Investigations revealed that there are fears that the EFCC may intensify its investigation of Senator Bukola Saraki over the collapse of the defunct Societe Generale Bank despite its inability to establish a prima facie case against the former Kwara State governor so far.

    Other drastic measures likely to be taken against the former PDP chieftains include compromising their personal security. Several weeks ago, policemen attached to Saraki were inexplicably withdrawn for reasons not unconnected to his romance with the nPDP.

    The same fate also befell the former Chairman of the nPDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, who also had policemen attached to him withdrawn by higher authorities.

    With the alleged resolve of the presidency and the PDP to unleash the instruments of state on the defected governors and their allies if its last ditch reconciliation moves fail, testy times sure lie ahead in the nation’s polity in the next few months.

  • PDP’s vicious war

    PDP’s vicious war

    The on-going war of attrition among PDP leading light in the face of massive unemployment of our youths, infrastructural decay, 13 years of unfulfilled promises and monumental corruption by its members, is one more evidence that the party doesn’t give a damn about Nigeria. For the greed of its members, PDP that has continued to act as if it is answerable to no one is prepared to drag the nation down along with itself.

    A distinguishing characteristic of any political party is a consensus of members on identified values and principles. But as we have seen in the last few years, there is nothing PDP ever agreed upon. Its leaders, like warlords fight vicious wars over everything, including sharing of our common wealth, but never on behalf of helpless Nigerians.

    In case we have forgotten, it was their members that told us how, under the guise of privatization and commercialization, they shared the nation’s once thriving blue-chip companies among PDP members and its sympathisers using the BPE. They waged a vicious battle over the sharing of prime lands and properties the nation inherited from her colonial masters.

    Lest we forget, it was Senator Bukola Saraki who became the whistle blower over the fuel subsidy scam of about N2 trillion for fuel neither imported nor delivered to Nigeria. The Farouk Lawal whose committee uncovered the scam was found to be like other many PDP men, a man with feet of clay.

    While we have been christened as one of the most corrupt nations on earth, PDP leaders, because of greed cannot even agree on what constitutes a corrupt practice. Leading members of PDP openly accept gifts from contractors. Our lawmakers attribute allocating unmerited salary packages to their members in a nation that cannot pay a minimum wage of N18, 000 to the ‘Nigeria factor’.

    While ex-President Obasanjo, who PDP leading members swore spent close to N10billion on his failed third term bid, claimed during a CNN interview programme last week that “the level of corruption in the country was rising, and Jonathan’s government was not doing enough to stem the tide”, President Jonathan claimed, “…most of these things we talk about corruption are not even corruption”. For him if there is corruption, since “Nigeria has more institutions that fight corruption than most other countries”, the government is also fighting corruption.”

    It is obvious that the removal of Olagunsoye Oyinlola as PDP national secretary which has deepened the current crisis was self-inflicted. His removal was the outcome of a suit filed by a faction of the party’s Ogun State chapter. The court agreed with the faction that the former governor was not fit to hold the post of secretary of the party. Justice Abdul Kafarati also gave a helping hand when he declared “The plaintiff’s suit is not based on an intra-party dispute; rather it seeks to enforce the decision of the Lagos Federal High Court on the grounds that it violated an earlier FHC order of February 16, 2012.”

    Then the question you ask yourself is why has South-west PDP opted to bite its nose in order to spite its face? Now while Oyinlola who has already told an appellate court in Abuja that Justice Abdul Kafarati who removed him from office erred in law by assuming ‘ jurisdiction over an intra party dispute’, Bamanga Tukur, the PDP chairman who like the South-west PDP saw the departure of Oyinlola as a way to get even with his tormenting PDP governors, has quickly planted his only loyalist in the National Working Committee, NWC, Solomon Onwe as acting national secretary leaving both the victorious and the vanquished South west PDP factions to lick their wounds.

    The South-west PDP decision to throw away the baby with the bathwater which is no doubt a clear evidence of a house divided against itself, is a mere reflection of the war of attrition of a party embroiled in a web of intrigues at the national level.

    Meanwhile, there is an alleged subtle threat by about 21 governors elected on the platform of PDP to quit the party unless its national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, resigns.

    Tukur himself carries a moral burden as his son, along with other sons of leading lights of PDP are facing criminal charges for allegedly defrauding of government of billions of naira for fuel neither imported nor delivered to Nigeria.

    President Jonathan and his godfather, Chief Obasanjo, are also said to be embroiled in a crisis of confidence over the choice of Tony Anenih, the master ‘fixer’ of 2003 and 2007 elections, and Ahmadu Alli former PDP chairman who as chairman of PPPRA presided over the appointment of about 140 independent petroleum marketers, some of whom are standing trial for alleged theft of about N2trillion, as BOT chairman. What more indignity can a people be subjected to?

    And as the de facto leader of an embattled party, President Jonathan was alleged to have personally identified Bode George as member of those to reform the Board of Trustees (BOT) of PDP. Those close to him are saying the choice was informed by a desire to recoup some of the South-west goodwill the president squandered through some of his anti-South-west policies.

    The choice has been widely criticized not just by South-west PDP faction opposed to the politics of Bode George, but also by legal practitioners, civil rights groups, Anti-Corruption Network and Coalition against Corrupt Leaders, all blaming PDP for its disrespect for the public.

    While Dino Melaye, who became an anti-corruption crusader after falling out with PDP, claims Bode George’s choice was because “almost everybody in the party (PDP) is an ex-convict”, while, Debo Adeniran the Chairman of CACOL, said the “PDP’s decision was akin to legalising corruption”. Bode George, he said, “would infest others with criminal virus because he exemplifies corruption”.

    Except that we are all victims, no one would have wept for PDP and the selection of George as a key player in the final lap of its war of self destruction. I however sympathise with President Jonathan principally because of his penchant for sticking out his neck for indicted South-west PDP leaders. I want to believe his choice is often borne out of lack of sufficient understanding of the culture of the Yoruba, his over-reliance on advice of self-serving advisers, or informed by what his political enemies describe as his “politics of perfidy”.

    Jonathan who rose to become the president of Nigeria ought to have known that those who used constitutional means to dislodge Obasanjo from his stolen empire following the massively rigged 2007 election are products of a culture that produced those that ensured those who sowed the wind during the rigged 1965 western regional election, reaped the whirlwind. Their PDP kinsmen may share PDP world view, but are products of a culture that celebrates dissent in the face of arbitrariness and fraud.

    In Yorubaland, it is said that Eniti o jale lerekan, ti o da aran bori, aso ole ni oda bora’ (literarily meaning that a man who had been indicted for stealing, who later turn out in expensive damask dress is wearing a stolen dress). In case the president doesn’t know, the dissent among the Yoruba when it comes to dealing with intra-cultural conflicts that borders on fraud and arbitrariness is more vicious than when PDP engages in squabbles over sharing of our resources