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Tag: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

  • Atiku blames APC for joblessness, insecurity

    The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has attributed the spate of insecurity in the country to failure of government to provide jobs for the youth population.

    Speaking at the party’s campaign rally in Minna, Niger State on Wednesday, Atiku said if voted into power, the PDP government will provide the needed jobs that would tame the menace of insecurity.

    Atiku said, “So, this is a promise and a commitment I am making on behalf of PDP if you vote for PDP. I want to commit to you that if you vote for PDP, the insecurity which they have not been able to control, we shall control it.

    “They have been unable to control insecurity because they have been unable to provide jobs and businesses for the people. So by the time we provide jobs and businesses for our young men and women, you will hear less crime and less insecurity.

    “So, I want to promise you on behalf of our great party to sack the All Progressives Congress (APC) government and let us send them packing. Like I used to say, Buhari must go. APC must go”.

    The PDP presidential candidate blamed the ruling APC for the social and economic ills plaguing the country, stressing that the ruling party has reneged on all its campaign promises to the Nigerian people.

    “In 2015, they came to tell us that PDP did not do anything. We should change. And we changed. And they promised to fight corruption, to improve our economy and also to secure our country. Have they achieved anyone of these three?

    “When they came in, there was insecurity only in the North East. Today, there is insecurity in North West and North Central. And we have lost more lives at any other time in the history of this country in peaceful times. They have failed as far as security is concerned.

    “When it comes to the issue of economy, we have lost more jobs; over 10 million jobs, to the extent that Nigeria has been declared the headquarters of poverty in the world. This is a record.

    “Have they fulfilled that promise? Now I want to promise you that if you vote PDP, we will restore the jobs that had been lost. You either get a job or get a business to do”, Atiku added.

    Read Also: Tinubu blasts PDP, Atiku

    Also speaking at the rally, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukolan Saraki, restated the resolve of the PDP to run issue based campaign.

    Saraki, who is the Director General of the PDP presidential campaign, maintained that the 2019 elections would be a referendum on the APC administration, which he described as a total failure.

    Saraki said, “A government that has been with us for three and half years and it promised us three things and we are going to decide as Nigerians. If they have performed, they can continue, if they have not performed, they must pack and go home.

    “They came on security, there was problem in the North East and they said they can provide security solution. Today isn’t the security situation worse?

    “There is no security in North Central, North West. There is security problem everywhere. Before, they said they will provide three million jobs for the youth. Today, more than 10 million youths have lost their jobs, have they perform? No.

    “They came they said they would bring food to our people, today Nigeria is the capital of hunger in the entire world, have they performed?

    “They said they will fight corruption, today there is corruption in the country, no be so? They have failed on these things and that is why they must leave and let us bring a man that has experience; that knows how to create jobs, that knows how to bring food to all of us”.

    The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus who was also at the rally, berated President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC.

    According to him, the President and his party have been creating “mistaken impression” of being popular with Nigerians, whereas the hand writing on the wall indicates that the people have rejected them.

    Describing the APC as a drowning party, the chairman said the Buhari administration has been struggling to give artificial relevance to its image by trying to lure people and create some photoshop to give impression of a non-existent relevance and popularity.

    Secondus said instead of licking the wound of its shattered image, arising from an obvious squandered goodwill, the APC has embarked on rumour peddling and buying off some PDP leaders.

    The PDP chair said that its laughable that even with the glaring incompetence of the APC administration in the last 42 months, which he said, has left the country in a comatose state.

    “Nigerians have been watching regrettably, a President and his party, that cannot embark on campaign because he has nothing to showcase.

    “Having failed to find a performing APC governor to flaunt, the party and the President allow themselves some name dropping and rumour peddling on bogus achievements”, Secondus said.

    Other party chieftains at the rally included the immediate past governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu; his counterpart from Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Taraki; PDP governorship candidate in Niger State, Umar Mohammed Nasko; Senate Minority Whip, Phillip Aduda and many others.

  • Kashamu rejects Adebutu-led PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation

    The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Senator Buruji Kashamu, on Wednesday rejected the purported constitution of another PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDP PCO) for the state being chaired a member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Oladipupo Adebutu.

    Kashamu described the composition of the new body as fake.

    In a statement issued in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, Kashamu, who is the Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District at the Senate, said the authentic PDP PCO, which he heads as the Chairman, was inaugurated by the lawful Engr. Adebayo Dayo-led State Executive of the PDP on the 28th of November, 2018.

    He said his choice as the Chairman of the PDP PCO in Ogun State was informed by the fact that he is the party’s governorship candidate with a solid structure and functional offices across the state.

    The statement reads in part: “The purported inauguration of another PDP PCO by the dissident group within the Ogun State PDP is most unfortunate. One is surprised that this is coming at a time well-meaning stakeholders are preaching reconciliation, peace and unity.

    “As a lawmaker, he should not portray himself as a lawbreaker. The only PDP Chairman known to the law and major stakeholders within the Ogun State PDP is Engr. Adebayo Dayo.

    “Engr. Dayo, as the State Chairman of the PDP, presided over the State Congress where the governorship candidate of our party was elected in line with Section 25(1) of the Peoples Democratic Party Constitution 2017 (as amended) which states: ‘There shall be a State Party Congress which shall consist of: The State Chairman who shall be the Chairman.

    “Section 25(2C) states further: ‘The function of the State Congress shall be to: (c) Elect Governorship candidates of the Party’, among others.”

    Read Also: Women in Lagos have rejected Atiku, Agbaje – APC Women Leader

    “Having emerged in line with the provisions of the Constitution of our great party, I am the governorship candidate known to the party, the law and INEC. It was in line with the decisions and guidelines released by the party that the governorship candidates should head the PDP PCO in their respective states that the party stakeholders chose me to lead the campaign in Ogun State.

    “So, any other person parading himself as the Chairman of the PDP PCO in Ogun State is an impostor and should be ignored.”

    Kashamu urged the security agencies and the national leadership of the party to call Adebutu to order before his importunate actions plunge the party and Ogun state into unnecessary chaos and crisis.

    He also urged the national leadership of the party to be neutral wherever there were issues between contending interests within a political party.

    “The national leadership should be a father-to-all wherever there is a dispute between contending groups or forces within the party and not take side with one against the other since we are all members of the same family.

    “But, even as members of the same family, we have our right to life and to live. The father cannot attempt to kill one child for the other and expect that the child will not fight for its life or assume that the law will not take its course if the child is killed by the father. That is why we say the supreme power of the party is not absolute,” Kashamu added.

  • Cross River: ‘Why Owan-Enoh’s billboards were brought down’

    The Cross River State Signage and Advertisement Agency (CRISAA) says it took down the billboards of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator John Owan-Enoh, because of fines owed the agency.

    Director-General of the agency, Mr Stanley Nsemo, who addressed reporters in Calabar, said the billboards had also not been maintained in a long time, and may not be safe.

    Owan-Enoh had last week accused the state government of taking down his billboards and threatened that the APC would retaliate, and shortly thereafter had followed the destruction of billboards of candidates of the APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by unknown persons.

    Nsemo, however agreed that Owan-Enoh had paid the required fee of N2 million for registration for governorship aspirants.

    He said Owan-Enoh pasted paper posters, which had been banned by the government, during the primary elections, which attract a fine of N5 million.

    Nsemo said they were not out to witch-hunt anyone, but were just doing their job according to the law.

    He said they did not destroy any billboard, but took them done neatly. He said disclosed that three of Owan-Enoh’s billboards were taken down, one of them in Ogoja local government area.

    The DG said he had a lot of respect for Senator Owan-Enoh and also for democracy, adding that the agency would not dabble into politics.

    He said the various rules that regulate the outdoor sector in the state were not targeted at any political party, but the entire public, so that the aesthetics of the state would not be compromised and the state would retain its status as a clean, green and beautiful one.

    “This press conference is because of the issues of violence and issues surrounding billboards in the state. Needless to say we are intrigued that something that is a policy that has been announced over time in fact as far back as 2017 has been politicized. This is a rule that we have carried not just to the political sector, but we also use in the business sector as well to stop the reckless proliferation of paper posters in the state. You will agree with me that there is a massive improvement in the sanity of the outdoor sector during this campaign period. In the past by now, all these walls would have been filled with paper posters.

    Read Also: Owan-Enoh: Ayade has nothing to campaign for

    “There have been threats from various angles on my persona and my office. The issue we have at hand is the issue of the fines and regulations. We set rules in place. Those rules started in 2017 and they were supposed to help protect and guide political campaigns and their supporters on how best they can advertise and use the outdoor sector. Our preserve has always been that, yes you can brand, but before you brand there are certain things you need to do. This was not targeted at the political campaign but at the general public, so you cannot say that we created this law because we wanted to target any political party,” he said.

    He said the Agency is determined to work in the best interest of all as enshrined in CRISSAA Law No. 8, of 2011 and that all law abiding citizens, businesses, and organizations operating within the state should be rest assured that we are poised to serve them without fear or favour.

    Nsemo said the Agency is empowered by law to monitor and enforce all outdoor advertisements with respect to its responsibilities, including but not limited to controlling of all outdoor structures to be used for signage and advertisements; issue licenses and permits for the construction and placement of outdoor structures for signage and advertisements in any part of the state; protect the environment from potential adverse impact from visual blights; organize the procedure to regulate the ownership and operation of outdoor structures for the purpose of signage or advertisements under specific regulations as contained in the law; reject, revoke or modify permit if found to be in violation of any of the provisions of the law or the conditions for its grants; and monitor and inspect through its monitoring unit any outdoor structure and verify its compliance with the law.

     

  • We have no confidence in INEC, PDP cries out

    Few weeks to the 2019 general elections, the country’s leading opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday said it has no confidence in the ability and sincerity of the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a credible, free and fair election.

    The party also said it has genuine information on why the controversial electoral commissioner, Aminat Zakari is been ‘imposed on the INEC chairman’ to perfect the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) rigging plot.

    The immediate past Govenor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose made the disclosures on Saturday in Ibadan while addressing the press at the opening of the Atiku/Obi 2019 Southwest Campaign Summit.

    The delegates at the summit include the party’s candidates for the 2019 National Assembly positions from the six Southwest states as well as serving federal lawmakers.

    Others are the Vice Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi who was represented by Mr Dr. Alex Obiokolo, the Southwest Zonal Chairman, Mr Eddy Olafeso, Senate Minority Leader Abiodun Olujimi, Governors candidate Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Jimi Agbaje (Lagos), Ladi Adebutu (Ogun) among others.

    Fayose, who is the SW Coordinator of the Atiku/Obi Presidential Campaign Committee however while expressing confidence that the PDP will win the forthcoming election, even if it is with 38 percent votes noted that the issues being generated by the appointment of Zakari’s is a moral burden for both the electoral umpire and APC Presidential Candidate for the election.

    He added that the party’s lack of confidence in INEC is as a result of the actions and outcome of elections conducted across the country in the last three and a half year by the commission.

    He said, “Let me tell you that we have no confidence in INEC. We have no confidence in INEC. Let me expressly say that, and you can tell that by their actions in the last three and half years. We started in Kogi state and on to Ondo, Edo, Ekiti and Osun state.

    “I want you to recall that we started with inconclusiveness. That was the pattern and when the outcry was unbecoming and becoming embarrassing to them and for them, they took another style in Edo. It came like that to other states in the West on and on like that.

    “One thing I want to say to you, I would not talk about the past but I want to say that, it is now a moral burden for a party and a president that came out of concession from a man who was in a position that could make it impossible at the time.

    “Many Nigerians could not expect a Jonathan in the 21st century, a Nigerian, an African who would say no and not concede, but the man conceded honorably and he said his presidency is not worth the blood of any Nigeria.

    “This government of APC truly is an inconclusive government that I have ever seen. You cannot see anything good in any INEC overseen by the current leadership of this country. What you saw in the last few days by the appointment of Aminat Zakari is a moral burden.

    “They said the PDP appointed Aminat Zakari. Yes it was, at the time President Buhari was not a candidate at the time. And it shows that President Jonathan was honorable, taking and accepting somebody from the camp of his perceived opponent to be in INEC. Like I said, this election is a moral burden for them.

    “If you go to court and you ask the court not to try you because you believe you will not get justice with the judge, the judge will honorably close the file and send it to the CJ. This is an election involving President Buhari directly as the President of Nigeria. There are so many commissioners in INEC, why must it be this woman everybody is complaining about?

    “Even if you want to steal votes, you must equally don’t let us predict you all the time. Afterall some armed robbers operate only in the night and not during the day. So, the armed robbers who want to steal votes there, they want to do it during the day. It is a moral burden and it is what I call a banana peel for Nigeria.

    “INEC should please; they have told the whole world that they would do a credible election. It amazed me most that the INEC chairman announced that the woman is the person to collate but sent another text entirely different to cover up to the press and say, she is only to provide the environment because the outcry was becoming embarrassing. That is not the only commissioner there, and let all other political parties too bring somebody in the situation room.

    “It is not a hidden agenda. So I won’t be surprise if the Oyo state REC is doing what he is doing or saying what he is saying, we all know how they came, they will be going around and saying PDP was doing this and that. The thing was not what PDP was doing.

    “You told us you wanted a clear departure from the past, you told us you wanted to clean the mess of the past, is this how to clean the mess? This is a moral burden. Will it not amaze and surprise you that the presidency came out to defend INEC who is supposed to be an Independent National Electoral Commission but they are now Presidential Independent National Electoral Commission (PINEC). It is a moral burden and we want everybody to know where the problem is likely to come from.

    “Election has not started, PDP and some political parties are saying no, they don’t want this, if I were INEC, I will be honorable and do justice.”

    According to the ex-governor, Zakari was brought in as INEC commissioner as the last resort when it is obvious that all odds are against the APC to win the forthcoming election, saying “let me now tell you why they brought Aminat Zakari now.

    Read Also: Sack Amina Zakari from INEC, PDP tells NASS

    “Because APC employed consultant to do opinion polls and largely the parameter were these, what happened in 2015 and what is likely to happen in 2019. They found out that now President Buhari a Muslim from the North, Atiku Abubarkar also a Muslim from the North. They went further, Buhari, a Fulani man from the North and Abubarkar also a Fulani man from the North. They went further and saw all the parameters and they saw that there was no hiding place. They tested waters in Kano and they have realized that it would not be business as usual.

    “In 2014, they brought the entire pooling booths in the whole of Borno to Maiduguri where a Jonathan, a Christian from the South, where readily and most people there cannot stand up for PDP at the time.

    “Today, that is not going to be easy for them. And they gave them that security report and now they realized that they cannot trust the INEC chairman himself again, they now told the INEC chairman that the only option left for them (APC) to believe he (INEC Chairman) is with them is to go and announce Aminat Zakari as collation officer. That meeting took place at the First Lady’s Chambers in Aso Villa. Don’t ask me how I got to know that one; it is not your business.

    “That was how the INEC chairman agreed to make sure that they announced that lady’s name. I will give other revelations later. I don’t want to say everything today. So, I am not surprised at what any of these RECs are doing. I am not surprised.

    The Southwest Coordinator while describing the tradermoni initiative of the Federal Government as ‘re-looting the returned Abacha’s loot’, expressed optimism that the party’s victory at the Presidential polls will help re-shapen the various interest and political parties ready to work for and with the party in other elections.

  • Agbaje condemned over attack on new Lagos HoS

    The Governorship Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje has been lambasted for condemning the appointment of Hakeem Muri-Okunola as Head of Service, HoS of Lagos State.

    The Convener of Ibile Progressive Youths, IPY, Bayo Plunter in a press statement issued on Friday said Agbaje’s outburst was unnecessary, uncharitable and diversionary.

    The IPY comprises about 20 groups of young and dynamic professionals from the three senatorial districts in Lagos State.

    Agbaje had faulted the appointment of Muri-Okunola as the new HOS in the state, saying the action sacrificed career progression and was ‘politics taken too far.’

    It will be recalled that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday, swore-in Muri-Okunola as the 21st HoS in the state, in place of Mrs. Folashade Adesoye who retired in December 2018.

    Read Also: Agbaje and ‘freedom fighting’ ambiguity

    At 46, Muri-Okunola is said to be the youngest ever HoS in the history of Lagos State.

    Ibile Progressive Youth said, “While the appointment of Hakeem Muri-Okunola, a dynamic, qualified and hardworking young man has been roundly applauded by progressive minds, it is a bitter pill for Mr. Agbaje and his ilk to swallow.

    “It is evident from Mr. Agbaje’s statement how desperately he wishes the wheel of progress in the Centre of Excellence be reversed.

    “His statement smack of bile, divisiveness and incitement of our hard working civil servants to rebellion over a simple, constitutional executive action.”

    “While IPY remains non-aligned, but keenly monitoring the activities and promises of the governorship candidates involved in the political contestation for Office of Governor of Lagos State, we are concerned about the direction of Mr. Agbaje’s campaigns.”

    The IPY wondered why the likes of Agbaje, who it said claimed to be an indigene of Lagos State, would fault the appointment of Muri-Okunola, a true son of the soil and an indigene of the state, as HoS.

    Plunter posited that the PDP shot itself on the leg by faulting the appointment of a relatively young man as the HoS of the state despite its “noise that it would give chance to young people in their governments both at the state and at the Federal levels if they win the 2019 elections.”

    The IPY described the PDP and Agbaje as a sinking ship that is trying to get to the shore through any means.

    The group also berated Agbaje for displaying “arrant ignorance” over the issues surrounding the appointment of Muri-Okunola as the new HoS of the state by Governor Ambode.

    “By hierarchy, it was the turn of HMO to take over after Mrs. Adesoye retired in December, 2018 after years of meritorious service to the state government.

    “The appointment of Hakeem Muri-Okunola was not about politics, he was the next person in rank after the exit of the two PS, who were ahead of him.

     

  • Elections: INEC not into ‘rigging business’

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to distance itself from an alleged plot to compromise the Electoral Guidelines and pave the way for the alteration of the forthcoming general elections results.

    The Director, Media and Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Kola Ologbondiyan, gave the advice at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Ologbondiyan alleged that Nigerians were already aware that the commission’s Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, was under pressure to drop the display of results at the polling units as well as the electronic transmission of polled figures to INEC server from its guidelines.

    Read Also: INEC in the last three years

    He said that the display of results at the polling units ensured that results posted at all levels remained those originally announced at the various polling units, while the electronic transmission to INEC server ensured that the results from the polling centres were not tampered with.

    “Prof. Yakubu must not succumb to the pressure of the Buhari Presidency, because doing so will definitely set him on a collision course with Nigerians,’’ he said

    However, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, dismissed the allegations and urged the PDP to provide the evidence in its possession to prove them.

    “Otherwise, the PDP should cure itself of this recurring hallucination which I am sure Nigerians no longer buy. Certainly, INEC is not into the rigging business,’’ he said.

  • New Year: PDP assures Nigerians of brighter future

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) has urged Nigerians to step into 2019 with unwavering optimism, faith and hope of a new era of peace, national cohesion and economic prosperity under a “new President, Atiku Abubakar, that will be elected on February 16, 2019”.

    The party congratulated Nigerians for their resilience in surviving the almost four years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s “incompetent, anti-people and harsh administration”.

    In a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party urged the Nigerians to use the New Year to pray against all “negative projections” by President Muhammadu Buhari, who the PDP said, had declared more hardship for Nigerians in the new year.

    The statement said, “Nigerians must therefore avert such negative projections by voting out President Buhari and replacing him with their choice leader, the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku.

    “Atiku has already articulated a practical blueprint to ease their burden and pain by engendering rapid economic recovery, national cohesion and realistic solutions to our myriad of challenges.

    “2019, as an election year, offers our citizens their much-desired opportunity to end the trajectory of economic hardship, hunger and starvation, strange diseases, untimely deaths, collapsed infrastructure, humongous  unemployment figures, wanton killings and all the evils that have bedeviled our nation in almost four years of the President Buhari’s corrupt and incompetent administration.

    Read Also: Why we dumped Atiku, PDP – Bello

    “Our citizens have made immeasurable sacrifices to keep the nation going in the face of very harsh policies, lies and fake promises of the Buhari administration. They now eagerly long for a breathe of fresh air under Atiku as their next President.

    “Nigerians should therefore be optimistic as their incoming President will usher in a new era of a transparent and responsive government with the template for wealth creation, job opportunities and revitalization of our productive sector through tax cuts and direct empowerment of our hard working entrepreneurs in a manner that increases our national productivity, reduce costs of goods and services, increase exports and shore up the value of our naira.

    “Furthermore, Atiku Abubakar, as a new symbol of our national unity, has also perfected the outline for national reconciliation and healing and ending of all divisive tendencies with which the Buhari Presidency fouled our polity with violence, divided our people along primordial fault lines, with its attendant violence and bloodletting in various parts of our nation.

    “The PPCO therefore urges Nigerians to maintain their resolve to make our nation work again by continuing in rallying behind Atiku Abubakar to rescue our nation from the stranglehold of President Buhari and his vicious cabal”.

  • 2019: Elect visionary leaders, Atiku advises Nigerians

    The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has advised Nigerians to elect visionary leaders in 2019.

    Abubakar in his new year message issued on Monday in Abuja said that the citizens could collectively chat a new course for the country in 2019.

    “2019 is as yet a blank page. As a nation, we must not settle for whatever it brings.

    “We already have the vision, the vision of a nation that is a beacon of hope for the black race and the world at large,” he said.

    The former Vice President also advised Nigerians not to lose heart and hope saying Nigeria is no stranger to overcoming difficulties.

    Read Also: 2019: Umahi cautions against do or die politics

    He urged the citizens to remember how Nigeria became the first nation in the world to defeat and overcome the wild Ebola virus, when even first world nations were struggling with the scourge.

    Abubakar said that the resilience was domiciled in the Nigerians national psyche and “together we shall win forever’’.

    “I wish you all a Happy New Year and may 2019 be the year of Nigeria,’’ he said.

  • PDP accuses APC of diverting N478m NDDC fund to rent crowd

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) alleged yesterday that  the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretly drew  over N478 million from the coffers of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to ‘rent a crowd and offset bills’ in respect of the President Muhammadu Buhari  re-election campaign rally flagged off on Friday  in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State

    The PPCO also accused President Buhari of directly appointing serving ministers and heads of government agencies as members of his campaign council for the purpose of  continuing  to use them as conduit pipes for the diversion of public funds to finance his 2019 campaign.

    Spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the opposition party was also aware of the protests by some eminent Nigerians, including foremost businessmen, who were named as members of the APC Campaign Council without their consent.

    The action, PDP said, was a desperate bid to showcase the false impression that the businessmen were supporting Mr. President’s re-election bid.

    Read Also: 2019: PDP not an option, says Oshiomhole

    His words: “The N478 million NDDC fund which was originally budgeted for development projects in the Niger Delta was diverted to renting and transportation of crowd from other parts of the country to the rally to create an impression of popularity for President Buhari in the region.

    “Further information at our party’s disposal, shows that the said N478 million is part of the wholesome sum of N1.2 billion allegedly siphoned in tranches from the NDDC treasury by the cabal at the Buhari Presidency and APC leaders, who have been stealing money from various government agencies to finance President Buhari’s campaign.

    “Our party also has it on good authority that this ignoble scheme of siphoning NDDC development fund to finance his campaign was the main reason President Buhari foisted an unpopular leadership at the management of the NDDC despite the protests by critical stakeholders in all the states of the Niger Delta.

    “Furthermore, the PPCO is aware of the dissention by some APC leaders over President Buhari’s unilateral listing of individuals into his campaign council as announced by his media aide, without recourse to the selection process of the APC leadership.”

  • PDP faults Buhari on claims to food security

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO), has described faulted claims by President Muhammadu Buhari, that the nation has achieved food security and a secured country under his administration.

    President Buhari spoke on Friday in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital at the flag-off of his 2019 presidential re-election campaign.

    A statement by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the President’s claim on food security was startling.

    The statement said, “Our citizens were further startled when President Buhari claimed that he has achieved food security when in actual fact there is hunger and starvation everywhere.

    “This statement not only confirms the Buhari Presidency’s proclivity for false claim but also shows that Mr. President is completely insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.

    “Nigerians were alarmed when Mr. President claimed that the nation was secure under his rule, when there are killings and daily bloodletting in various parts of our country; when insurgents who had been pushed to the fringes of the North East by the PDP administration, leading to  the conduct of elections in all the local governments in the country, have under the Buhari administration spread to other states of the north.

    “While Mr. President was making his claims, insurgents had taken Baga; there are killings going on in Zamfara and our soldiers and policemen are being killed by terrorists, due to the neglect of his administration.

    Read Also: Buhari arrives Uyo for rally

    “President Buhari further embarrassed his office on his claims of commitment towards the war against corruption when he was surrounded at the podium, by individuals who are facing corruption allegations, including the Director General of his Campaign, Rotimi Amaechi, the APC factional National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, his South South Zonal Director, Godswill Akpabio and a host of others.

    “Furthermore, Nigerians are invited to note that our First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who was on the side of President Buhari throughout his 2015 campaign conspicuously shunned Mr. President’s 2019 re-election flag off apparently in fulfillment of her stance not to support him for a second term if he failed in his first tenure.

    “The PPCO therefore counsels President Buhari to use his failed campaign flag-off to know that no amount of crowd renting, vote-buying and intimidation of opposition can change the resolve of Nigerians to vote him out of office, come February 2019”