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Tag: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

  • PDP hails court’s validation of Kashamu’s expulsion

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hailed an Abuja Federal High Court’s verdict upholding the expulsion of Senator Buruji Kashamu from the main opposition party.

    A statement on Thursday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan said the verdict has vindicated the party’s position that Kashamu isn’t the Ogun State governorship candidate of the  PDP for the 2019 elections.

    The party said the verdict has reinforced the its recognition of a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Ladi Adebutu as the authentic candidate PDP governorship candidate for Ogun State.

    The state net said, “Given his expulsion from the PDP in July this year, Senator Buruji lost his membership of our party and as such, did not partake in any of our nomination processes; did not purchase the PDP governorship nomination form and did not participate in any way whatsoever in our Ogun state governorship primaries, yet he had continued to cause confusion and parade himself as PDP candidate.

    Read Also: PDP kicks as EFCC holds Okupe over ONSA funds

    “The PDP invites Nigerians, the people of Ogun state and particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to take copious note of the judgment of the court, in suit no: FCT/HC/0303/2017, which today, December 13, 2018 affirmed the powers of the PDP, as provided in her constitution, to discipline and punish any member who contravenes any of the provisions of its constitution.

    “By this judgment, it is clear that Senator Buruji Kashamu is not a member of the PDP, and cannot, under any circumstance whatsoever, claim to be the governorship candidate of the PDP in Ogun state, moreso, when he never participated in any of our nomination processes.

    “While hailing the judgment as victory for democracy, the PDP charges INEC to copiously take note of the development and reflect such in every issue regarding the conduct of governorship election in Ogun state.

    “Finally, the PDP commends the people of Ogun state for standing steadfast with its governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, who is already coasting to victory in the 2019 polls”.

  • APC to PDP: Stop dancing on the grave of Nigerians

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to stop dancing on the graves of innocent Nigerians who were killed while they were at the helm of affairs in the country.

    National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu said in a statement that the main opposition party should also stop playing politics with the nation’s security and campaign on issues.

    Read Also:500 Fayose’s loyalists dump PDP for APC

    He said the PDP and indeed, all Nigerians owe victims of those gruesome killings solemn conducts in their honour and in empathy with the bereaved families.

    The APC spokesman who was reacting to a statement credited to the PDP national Chairman said: “The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in its latest ignominious campaign of falsehood is attempting to distort facts on the security record of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.

    “The PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus in a recent television interview declared that under the APC administration, more Nigerians have been killed than during the Civil War that ended in 1970. Sadly, this kind of blatant falsehood has become the favourite pastime of the PDP.

    “If we are to join the PDP in their mindless game of playing politics with the state of insecurity, we would be pitching the number of casualty during the civil war with what Nigerians witnessed under PDP. As a Party, we would rather engage the PDP on the number of completed projects and pro-people policies we have embarked on as a government for the benefit of the country.

    “The APC understands governance to be serious business and is focused on finding lasting solution to the state of insecurity. Notably, significant successes have been recorded in the last three and half years.

    “For instance, the Niger Delta violence that was prevalent under the PDP government has not only been tackled, the APC government has now embarked on the environmental cleanup of Ogoniland to restore the ecosystem of the area, which was of no concern to PDP during its 16 years of ignoble rule.

    “Besides guerrilla attacks and hitting at soft targets, Boko Haram has been seriously degraded such that it lacks any capacity to hold territory. Most Nigerians, especially, the people of the North East are still smarting from the monstrosity of Boko Haram attacks on the innocent citizens and control of large swathes of the country’s territory under PDP.

    “However, in view of the PDP’s distortion of facts, it is necessary to catalogue some of the many unresolved political assassinations, state sponsored military attacks against Nigerian citizens and unchecked ethno-religious conflicts that led to the gruesome deaths of hapless Nigerians in their thousands.

    “We sadly recall military attacks on communities such as Odi and Zaki Biam; resultants deaths from riots over Sharia law in different parts of the North; unchecked internecine killings in Plateau State and other states in the North Central claimed thousands of lives.

    “The Niger Delta militancy that emerged under PDP made the region a hotbed of expatriate kidnappings, killings, illegal bunkering and other criminal activities. With the emergence of Boko Haram under the PDP administration, the sect was allowed to gain ground and control 14 local governments, turning states like Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and the Federal Capital Territory into killing fields.

    “The least PDP can do in this circumstances is to resist the urge to dance on the graves of the hundreds of thousands of people who were gruesomely murdered while it was in charge. PDP and indeed, all of us owe victims solemn conducts in their honour and in empathy with the bereaved families.”

  • We are committed to peaceful elections – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed its commitment to a peaceful election in 2019.
    The party however regrets that it was not represented at the signing of the peace accord in Abuja on Tuesday due to communication lapse between the National Peace Committee (NPC) and the party’s national secretariat.
    Already, the party is conducting investigations into the circumstances that could have resulted to this unfortunate communication lapse.
    Nevertheless, it is instructive to state that our Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the party are fully committed to a peaceful electoral process and elections in 2019.

    Read Also: Katsina APC rep defects to PDP

    Our Presidential candidate is known worldwide as a global ambassador of peace, who will always support processes that will engender peace in our country and the world over.
    In the same vein, our party is also known for peaceful conduct in all activities, electoral processes and all elections conducted at all levels in our country, since its inception in 1998.
    The PDP will therefore visit the office of the National Peace Committee, look into the peace document and fulfill all necessary obligations towards the peace accord ahead of the 2019 general elections.

  • PDP to Buhari: Stop shielding corrupt relatives

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to demonstrate his much touted integrity by allowing an open investigation of his associates and close relatives, who were mentioned in alleged looting of public resources.

    The opposition party accused Presidency officials of concealing malpractices by the President’s relatives with the recent attempts by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to gag a suspect who claimed to have engaged in illegal transactions with one Mariatu, a sister to the First Lady.

    One Amina Mohammed, who was paraded by the DSS about two weeks ago, had also mentioned name of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. David Babachir Lawal as a beneficiary of the alleged illegal deals.

    “Having reviewed all these issues, including the lame denials by those mentioned by the suspect, as well as the failure of the security agency to allow the suspect to complete her open confession, the PDP challenges President Buhari to order an open hearing into the matter, if, indeed, the Presidency has nothing to hide”, a the statement by PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan said.

    The party also challenged President Buhari to immediately make public the report of the investigation of the former aide of the First Lady, Mr. Baba-Inna, who was arrested in September this year, over accusations of receiving N2.5 billion as donations from politicians, businessmen and women on behalf of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari.

    The statement continued, “Our party holds that President Buhari cannot be parading himself as Mr. Integrity while condoning acts of corruption by his associates and close relatives as well as a cabal in his presidency, which the First Lady had even alluded to, if he is not directly benefiting from those sleazes

    “The PDP also dares President Buhari to make public the official report allegedly indicting his Presidency on the siphoning of over N11 trillion in the petroleum sector, including the N9 trillion oil sleaze detailed in the leaked memo at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    “Furthermore, the Buhari Presidency should allow an open inquest into the alleged diversion of defence funds, including part of the $1 billion drawn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) for purchase of military hardware and welfare of our soldiers, to fund his ill-fated re-election campaign.

    “The PDP also challenges President Buhari to make public the report of the looting of over N33 billion meant for the purchase of food for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as well as another N18 billion IDP fund, discovered by the Senate, to have been diverted to APC interests.

    “It is unfortunate that President Buhari has allowed the festering of sundry racketeering and abuse of fiscal process in his presidency, a situation, which casts a long shadow on his acclaimed integrity as a leader.

    “Unless President Buhari allows an open inquest on his associates and close relatives involved in alleged treasury looting, he lacks all moral standing to seek re-election by Nigerians, who have been bearing the brunt of his misrule in the last three and half years”.

  • Buhari will win Taraba in 2019, says former acting governor

    A former acting governor of Taraba state and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Abubakar Sani Danladi, on Tuesday said President Muhammadu Buhari will win Taraba State with a large margin in next year’s general election.
    Buhari lost to Goodluck Jonathan in Taraba State in 2015 presidential poll.
    Danladi, who briefed reporters in Jalingo, said he was the one who worked against Buhari in 2015 when he was in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
    He added that he was reconciling aggrieved members of the APC who could not win the primaries so that they will form a formidable political force that will effectively deliver Buhari and all the APC candidates in Taraba State come 2019.
    “In 2015, I was the acting governor of Taraba State in PDP’s platform. I led the campaign that brought Darius Ishaku on board as governor. I also made sure our PDP presidential candidate, former president Goodluck Jonathan, won in Taraba.

    Read Also: Taraba governor’s wife honoured

    “Today, I am the governorship candidate of the APC in Taraba. I want to tell Nigerians in confidence that President Buhari will win Taraba in 2019.
    “I was the architect and head boy of the team that delivered Jonathan in Taraba state in 2015. Now, I have been promoted as the headmaster in Taraba APC, so Buhari will win without hitches. Those who will not join me will lose out in Taraba in 2015 general election,” he said.
    The Taraba APC flag bearer thanked President Buhari for awarding the Mambilla hydro power project in Sardauna local government area of the state, saying the contract alone is speaking for the president.
    Danladi criticised the Darius Ishaku administration on youth empowerment, saying not much has been done by Ishaku to empower the youth and take them off the streets.
    “God knows what I have for the youth in Taraba state -a programme to empower them in many ways. I will do that to reposition the State on the path of development,” Danladi said.

  • Katsina APC rep defects to PDP

    A member of the House of Representatives from Katsina State, Ibrahim Murtala, has defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Murtala, who is representing Matazu/ Musawa Federal Constituency, announced his defection in a letter read by the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara, on the floor of the house on Tuesday.

    Read Also: Kashamu to Secondus: I’m not APC’s agent

    In the letter, Murtala said that he wished to inform the house and the general public that he was no longer a card-carrying member of the APC.

    The lawmaker said he would from now pursue his political career under the umbrella of the PDP.

    NAN

  • PDP: In character and integrity, Buhari is no match for Atiku

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) has replied the All Progressives Congress (APC) stating that President Muhammadu Buhari isn’t a match for its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in character, integrity, competence and public acceptance.

    The PPCO noted that the APC, in raising the issue of personal character of candidates in its statement, has unwittingly sunk President Buhari’s campaign by opening a flank that ultimately exposes him to public opprobrium.

    Read Also:‘Nigeria still very corrupt despite Buhari’s anti-corruption war’

    A statement Monday by the spokesman for the PDP campaign, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the PDP is committed to issue-based campaign and finding solutions to the myriad of problems the “incompetent, divisive and extremely corrupt” Buhari administration has plunged the nation into.

    However, the party maintained that it would not hesitate to take on the APC, any time, any day on issues of personal character and integrity, which it said; President Buhari was in clear deficit before Atiku Abubakar.

    The statement said, “It is on record that nothing incriminatory has ever been found on Atiku Abubakar, despite being the most investigated politician in our country, particularly by the Buhari Presidency; but can such be said of President Buhari, who has been jittery over Atiku Abubakar’s soaring popularity and acceptance across the board, ahead of the 2019 general election.

    “In the interim, between President Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, Nigerians know the leader, who is bugged by integrity issues and under whose watch our Presidency became “fantastically corrupt”, with issues of certificate forgery and allegations of sundry frauds in which family members and close relatives are being mentioned.

    “Nigerians are aware of the leader under whose direct watch, over N11 trillion has been stolen from our petroleum sector and billons of naira frittered away from our National Health Insurance Fund (NHIS) and other revenue agencies in the last three and half years.

    “They are aware of the leader, who has reneged in all his campaign promises; who stays aloof always to the plights of the people and only parades as pro-poor, just to win their votes.

    “On the issue of achievement, the whole world knows the Nigerian leader whose corrupt administration plunged our nation into economic recession and who cannot point to any development project he initiated and completed in any part of the country or any personal contribution he has made to the development of our nation, either in office or as a private citizen.

    “Since the APC has raised the issue of character, it should be ready to face the debate when the heat is on”.

  • PDP condemns EFCC’s invasion of Atiku’s sons residence

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) has condemned Saturday’s raid on the Abuja residence of two sons of the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had raided the residence of Aliyu and Mustapha Abukakar early Saturday morning, an action the PDP described as vicious, outrageous, dirty and reprehensible.

    A statement Monday by the spokesman for the PDP Campaign, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the operatives of the EFCC unleashed violence on the home of Atiku’s sons while the young men were away.

    Tye statement said, “The invasion of Aliyu and Mustapha Abubakar’s home, even in their absence, allegedly in search of imaginary cache of foreign currency, has further exposed how depraved the Buhari Presidency has descended in the desperate plot to harm, traumatize and malign the character of our presidential candidate and his family, having realised that Nigerians have aligned behind him as the next President of our country.

    “It is indeed appalling that the Buhari Presidency can now go as low as engaging in wicked politics of chasing after family members of a presidential candidate, who are neither government officials, government contractors nor involved in any underhand dealings, but young students pursuing their legitimate personal educational careers without ill will to anybody.

    “While nothing incriminating was found in the apartment, the PPCO has been made aware of how the squad, said to be acting on ‘orders from above’ ransacked the house and destroyed valuables belonging to Atiku’s children and we demand an explanation from the leadership of the EFCC.

    Read Also: 2019: Group advises Atiku

    “The PPCO completely rejects the wicked politics that the APC and the Buhari Presidency are importing into our polity. We hereby urge all Nigerians, particularly the youths, to rise in condemnation of these vicious acts.

    “Only last month, a special security squad of army, police and paramilitary agencies was unleashed to physically harass our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, at the Abuja airport, upon his return from Dubai

    “Similarly, last week, all transactions in bank accounts belonging to PDP Vice Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, his wife, his family members and their businesses were stopped by agencies of the Buhari Presidency on account of imaginary investigation.

    “Nigerians are already aware of how opposition leaders and others perceived to be averse to the President Buhari’s re-election bid, on account of his woeful performance in office, are being blackmailed and framed up with spurious charges.

    “President Buhari should note that, as an opposition presidential candidate from 2003 to 2015, none of his children or family members were in anyway attacked or victimized by the government in power. He should stop importing such vicious underhand tactics into our political hemisphere.

    “Finally, the PPCO counsels the APC and the Buhari Presidency to come to terms with the fact that Nigerians have moved beyond them and that no amount of intimidation, harassment or attack on our candidates, leaders and their families will stop Nigerians from voting them out of office, come 2019 and electing our candidate, Atiku Abubakar”.

  • PENGASSAN warn against sale or refineries, NNPC

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has warned against by the political class and other stakeholders from selling the nation’s refineries, saying Nigerian workers and the entire labour movement in the country will not accept such move.

    Apparently reacting to the a statement credited to the Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that he would sell the NNPC if voted into power; President of the union, Francis Olabode Johnson said the intended sales of the refineries as being propagated will not be accepted.

    Johnson said rather than contemplating the sale of the refineries and the NNPC, plus should be made to immediately rehabilitate the refineries and make them functional.

    The PENGASSAN President who spoke in Abuja said: “We strongly appeal to the Federal Government to hasten work on the rehabilitation of the refineries as conflicting pronouncements are creating more confusion. We urge the government to fast track the rehabilitation of the refineries so that the intended sales as been propagated in certain quarters will not be accepted.

    Read Also: PENGASSAN urges unity among workers

    “PENGASSAN position from time immemorial has been the NLNG Model and for the model to be accepted by the association. The rehabilitation of these refineries must be concluded, as this will go a long way in not short-changing the Nigerian nation.”

    Speaking at the Delegate Conference, titled: “The role of Labour in Maintaining Industrial and Political Stability in Nigeria,” the PENGASSAN President commended the NNPC management for its role in ensuring the JV Cash Call resolution, fully functional operations of Depots in Mosimi, Ore, Aba, Gombe, Ibadan, Calabar, Ilorin, Kaduna and others.

    He said: “We will use this medium to sincerely appreciate the dedication and commitment efforts of the NNPC Management in their investment drive to position the corporation for greater efficiency.

    “We are again grateful to the management of NNPC and other subsidiaries units for their support on capacity development, improved staff welfare and career progression for some of our members of the GEC and our associations as a whole. We equally commend the management for their understanding in resolving issues involving some management staff recently.”

    The GEC Chairman, Comrade Sulaiman .A. Sulaiman, called on the management of NNPC to put as a priority the issue of the downstream sector, most especially the refineries, depots and pipelines that has defied solutions.

    According to him, the refineries are almost grounded and the only hope of comprehensive rehabilitation through the financier model as proposed by top management of NNPC seems not realistic.

    He emphasized that this development is giving  was giving the workforce some concern; adding that other staff related issues that need management intervention include deterioration of staff strength in almost every section of the corporation, Human Capacity Development/Training and succession planning.