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Tag: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

  • Tribunal sacks APC reps member

    The Election Petition Tribunal in Cross River State has sacked the House of Representatives member for Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency, who emerged winner in the last general election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Alex Egbona.

    The judgment, which was one of ten delivered by a three-man panel of the Tribunal led by Justice Vincent Agbata in a petition instituted by the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr John Gaul Lebo, was delivered late Wednesday evening

    The Tribunal went ahead to declare Lebo, who came second in the polls, as the candidate in the polls with the highest valid votes having considered the APC candidate, “not a lawful candidate in the eyes of the law as on the date of the election”.

    Read Also: BREAKING: David Lyons is Bayelsa APC gov candidate

    The Independent National Electoral Commission was subsequently directed by the tribunal to withdraw the certificate of return from Egbonna and issue it to Lebo.

    The petition with suit number EPT/CAL/HR/11/2019 was filed by Lebo as challenging the declaration of Egbona as winner of the election.

    Among other grounds, the petitioner argued that the APC candidate was excluded from participating in the election by INEC on the strength of a Federal High Court order.

    There other nine judgments all went in favour of the candidates of the PDP who were elected into the National Assembly and the State House of Assembly.

     

  • 1,309 delegates to elect PDP guber candidate in Bayelsa

    Delegates numbering 1,309 have been accredited to elect the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State.

    A breakdown of the delegates according to their local government areas showed that 200 were from Southern Ijaw; 180, Yenagoa; 177, Sagbama and 166 Ogbia.

    Others were Nembe 160; Ekeremor, 153; Kolokuma-Opokuma, 142 and Brass 130.

    Arrangements for actual voting commenced at about 11pm following the arrival of the Returning Officer and Governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, his committee members and observers from the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Read Also: Bayelsa on lock down over PDP primaries

    Ishaku invited the agents of the parties to come forward to be guided through the process and read the Riot Act to the delegates and aspirants.

    A former Chairman of Southern Ijaw, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe, who was an agent of one of the aspirants and former Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) observed that the state party officials should stop identifying with the committee since they were delegates and interested parties.

    Ishaku ordered the Chairman of the party, Cleopas Moses and the party secretary, Keku Godspower to at the rows allocated to their local government areas.

  • Supreme Court rejects Atiku’s, PDP’s appeals

    MOVES by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the February 23 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to have access to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) server ended on Tuesday at the Supreme Court.

    It was a double loss for the opposition party and its candidate as the apex court rejected the appeals they filed against two earlier decisions of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

    It came ahead of Wednesday’s resumption of proceedings at the PEPC, where parties are scheduled to adopt their written addresses.

    The PEPC will today reserve a date for judgment after adoption of the addresses by the parties – PDP/Atiku; All Progressives Congress (APC)/President Muhammadu Buhari and INEC.

    It was learnt on Tuesday the PEPC has 21 days left out of the 180 days within which it has to deliver judgment in the petition.

    The PDP and Atilku are challenging the outcome of the election won by President Buhari.

    The first appeal numbered: SC/739/2019 was filed against a ruling of the PEPC, in which it held that the Atiku and the PDP do not have a reply to an application filed on May 14, 2019 by the APC seeking among others, the dismissal of their (Atiku and the PDP) challenging Buhari’s victory.

    The second appeal numbered: SC/815/2019, sought to reverse the decision given by the PEPC on June 24 rejecting their request to inspect a supposed central server purportedly used by the INEC to transmit results.

    When the first appeal was called on Tuesday, appellants’ lawyer, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) applied to withdraw it on the grounds that the time allowed in law, for the hearing of such an election related appeal has expired.

    Jegede said the lawyer, who led the appellants’ team on July 30, when case last came up, failed to inform the court that the time for the hearing of the appeal would lapse before August 20, to which the case was adjourned.

    He then applied to withdraw the appeal, an application the respondents: INEC (represented by Yunus Usman, SAN); Buhari (represented by Wole Olanipekun, SAN) and APC (represented by Charles Edosomwan, SAN) did not object to Jegede’s request to withdraw the appeal.

    Justice Datijo Mohammed, who presided over the court’s five-man panel, subsequent gave a bench ruling, in which he struck out the appeal.

    Other members of the panel, Justices Mohammed, Kumai Akaahs, Paul Galumje and Uwani Abba-Aji agreed with the lead decision.

    In dismissing the second appeal, the court unanimously held that the appeal was without merit.

    Justice Centus Chima Nweze, who read the lead judgment, said: “I see no reason for departing from the reasoning of the lower court. I find that this appeal is without merit, and it is accordingly, dismissed.”

    Justice Nweze upheld the arguments by Olanipekun, Edosomwan and Usman, to the effect that the appellants, having failed to show the PEPC wrongly exercised its discretion in arriving at the June 24, 2019 ruling, the Supreme Court as no reason to reverse it.

    The judge, in upholding the June 24 decision of the PEPC, said the lower court effectively exercised its discretion judicially and judiciously when it elected not to decide the issue of the existence or otherwise of a server at the interlocutory stage.

    The five members of the PEPC panel, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, were unanimous, in their June 24, 2019 ruling, in dismissing the application filed by Atiku and the PDP.

    Justice Garba, who gave the lead ruling, was of the view that, since parties to the petition by Atiku and PDP were disputing the existence or otherwise of “an INEC central server,” it was wrong for the court to grant the petitioners’ request to inspect a server, whose existence, usage or otherwise was being disputed by parties.

    He noted that by the averments contained in processes filed by parties, they have joined issues on whether or not there is a central server and whether or not INEC deployed it for the election. He added that granting the petitioners’ request to inspect a server, which the supposed owner said did not exist, will amount to the court agreeing that a server actually exist.

    Read Also: Buhari not qualified to run, Atiku insists

    Justice Garba said the issue about the existence of a server, which forms a substantial part of the petition filed by Atiku and the PDP, should be determined at the hearing of the main petition.

    He noted: “Based on the facts deposed to in the pleadings, in paragraphs 6 to 8 of the petition, which is to the effect that the election results were electronically transmitted to the 1st respondent’s server, in addition to the accreditation information from the smart card readers used for accreditation use for the election.

    “And the respondents, having joined issues with the petitioners in respect of the same data, said to have been transmitted to the 1st respondent’s server, this court has to be circumspect and be minded, to peruse the petition as well as the respondents’ replies thereto, in order to confirm whether, in fact, parties have truly joined issues on the existence and use of a central server.

    “There are, in paragraphs 26, 27, 28 and 29 of the petitioners’ petition, facts that for the said election, held on the 23rd of February 2019, the 1st respondent deployed smart card readers in accreditation as well as transmit election results directly from the polling units to the central server.

    “But, the 1st respondents, in paragraph 6 of its reply, has totally denied the existence and use of electronic transmission of results in the presidential election of 2019.”

    Justice Garba, after analyzing the averments in the processes filed by parties, held that, the averments in the processes filed by parties “have clearly and unequivocally shown that parties have, indeed joined issues on the existence or otherwise of a central server and whether the results of the presidential election held on the 23rd of February 209 was electronically transmitted

    “Now, given the germane nature of this issue, which prove can only emerge at the hearing of the substantive petition, the question that comes to the fore is whether it will be rational; whether it will be judicious and to meet the end of justice, in accordance with the law, that the court should exercise its discretion in favour of the petitioners/applicants to grant access to what they call central server, in respect of which parties have joined issues.

    “However, from the pleadings before us, I am of the view the averments in the petition and the respondents’ reply thereto, with regard to the existence of aa central server and whether there was electronic transmission of the results of the presidential election, held on the 23rd of February 2019 and which issues have, admittedly been joined, substantially by parties, it is no doubt out of place and will not be expedient that this court should grant the prayers contained in the application.

    “In other words, if the court grants the prayers sought in this application, it would have delved into and resolved the substantially issues aforementioned as regard the existence of a server and the electronic transmission of the election results, which scenario would be unpalatable and create the impression that this court has indeed, confirmed that there is a central server into which the result of the presidential election conducted on February 23, 209 was transmitted and stored by the 1st respondent.”

    Justice Garba said the court should be careful, while determining preliminary issues, and should avoid making declaration and observation that could touch or prejudging the substantial issue.

    He added that the court cannot, in determining preliminary issued, determine the substantial issues.

    Justice Garba said: “I decline to grant the reliefs sought in the application. The application filed on May 8 is hereby refused and dismissed.”

    Atiku and the PDP, in their petition before the tribunal, claimed that they won the election based on results they downloaded from the said INEC central server, which INEC has consistently denied its existence.

    INEC has consistently denied that it deployed any server for the transmission of the election results and that the extant Electoral Act and Electoral Guidelines do not allow electronic transmission of election results.

    In the application, Atiku and PDP had prayed the tribunal for:

    • An order granting access or the court’s supervised access and inspection by the petitioners in the presence of the 1st and 2nd respondents, if they so desire, of the 1st respondent’s server, wherein information are recorded and stored in data packages relating to the accreditation of voters and transmission of results from the presidential election, the subject matter of the petition.
    • An order directing the 1st respondent’s Chief National Electoral Commissioner and /other officers to grant the petitioners access to the said data base in the 1st respondent’s central server.
    • An order granting leave to the petitioners to inspect and obtain certified true copies (CTC) of Smart Card Readers’ accreditation data from the smart card readers used for the said election as stored in the 1st respondent’s server.
    • An order granting leave to the petitioners to file the report of the inspection and analysis thereof at the trial.

  • PDP, APC bicker over Masari’s achievements in Katsina

    The two leading political parties in Katsina State – the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and  the All Progressives Congress (APC) – on Sunday traded words over the pace of Governor Aminu Bello Masari’s administration since it came on board on May 29.

    The PDP Chairman, Alhaji Salisu Yusuf Majigiri during an interview with The Nation, berated Masari for celebrating over the inauguration of two link roads with a total mileage of 32-kilometre by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He said former Governor Shema inaugurated more than 200-kilometre roads without fanfare

    Majigiri also criticised the governor for lack of pace, adding that he was not ready for governance considering the fact that he was yet to appoint his commissioners and Chief of staff.

    He said: “I thought by having the privilege of hosting the President, who coincidentally comes from the state, he will leverage on that to embark on multi-sectoral projects in Education, Health, Power, Youth empowerment, Agriculture and so on, to build multi billion naira projects that touch on a cross-section of our people”

    Read Also: Buhari hails Masari for progress in Katsina

    “You cannot compare Masari’s tenure with Shema’s. The former even commissioned the 100-km Marshi-Mai Adua road without fanfare or ceremony, but here we are commissioning just 32-km with a presidential attendance”

    “We are waiting for him to form his cabinet so that we can see if there is any hope or anything new to achieve. Nothing has changed, no new exco has been formed since March 9 and now, and instead of progressing, we are retrogressing. I don’t think they are ready for governance.”

    But, the APC-controlled state government, however, fired back, dismissing the concerns of the opposition party.

    It insisted that the projects inaugurated by the President remains  only a tip of the iceberg compared to the ones he will commission later when he comes for a state visit.

    Director General, Media Labaran Malumfashi told The Nation that the governor “ambushed” the President during his Salah holiday in Daura to inaugurated the road projects

    He said: “Masari seized the Salah break to ambush the President; there are several other state projects to be commissioned when he comes on an official visit. When the time comes, the whole world will see what Masari has done for the people of Katsina State.”

    On the argument that the governor is not ready for business since he is yet to constitute his exco, Labaran insisted that the government is on course, notwithstanding not appointing commissioners yet

  • Osinbajo urges PDP members to join APC before party dies

    MEMBERS of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got an invitation on Sunday from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo – they should consider joining the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) before the main opposition party dies.

    Speaking at a dinner to mark the 80th birthday celebration of former APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun, the vice president jokingly said: “It was time for my friends in the PDP to cross over to the APC.”

    The dinner was attended by APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole, who led members of the National Working Committee (NWC); governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi); Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna); Simon Lalong (Plateau); Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano).

    Also there were former governors Chris Ngige, Ogbonnaya Onu, Rotimi Amaechi, Chukwuemeka Eziefe, Segun Osoba and the Catholic Bishop of Abuja, John Onaiyekan, among others.

    Osinbajo recounted a story of an American Republican senator who told his bewildered family on his dying bed that he wanted to cross over to the Democrat before dying.

    He said: “Let me tell a story of politician who was a long time life Republican politician in the United States (U.S.).  He was lying down on a sick bed and was about to die, he said, ‘I want to change my party, I want to become a Democrat so that tomorrow it will be announced that a Democrat died not a Republican’.

    “You can see that we politicians very faithful and very loyal indeed. I can only ask our friends in PDP also to ensure that they cross over before they die! It is time for them to cross over.”

    He described Chief Odigie-Oyegun as a loyal party man, an excellent role model and leader who has always been his own man, charting his own course, sometimes, making some real troubles.

    The vice president said: “I have always admired Chief John Odigie-Oyegun for two reasons. First reason is that somehow, he has always been his own man, charting his own course, sometimes, making some real troubles.

    “For example, when as a permanent secretary, he raised contempt proceedings when he refused to testify in principle.

    Read Also: Power sector reforms making steady progress – Osinbajo

    As a young man, I watch with bathed breadth when they were going to carry him to jail. But he ended up on the right side. It is not always that you find one on the right side of history. As a founding member of AD, a founding member of NADECO and later its secretary of those abroad; founding member of the APC and the first chairman, he is the one who led our party to that historic victory to unseat the ruling party.

    “The second reason is that somehow, he manages to be so deep in Nigerian politics even though he doesn’t look like a politician or sound like one. He always sound like a fine, well-read and well-spoken gentleman driven into politics by some rascals.

    “But indeed, he is a consummate politician and an astute strategist. It is this particular attribute of being in politics without being a politician that I will like to be when I grow up. Aside from lawyers, I do not know a group of people who are more maligned than politicians.

    “People like Chief Oyegun have shown that politicians can be loyal and distinguished men and women and it makes us proud to belong to this company of credible human beings. Despite what people say, we are often more loyal than some other people.”

    The celebrator said his wish is to see a Nigeria where merit would be used in the placement of individuals in positions, stressing that there was no part of the country where there are no qualified persons to be saddled with various jobs.

    Odigie-Oyegun also called for a reward system for those who distinguished themselves in the service of the nation, stressing that while punishing those who threatened the nation either through corruption or others means, those who served meritoriously should be rewarded.

    He told the audience: “God has been good to me and making my life such a pleasant one. I stand here today, not having spent in 80 years a single night on hospital bed. I really don’t know how to thank God. That was why I made it my first duty in Benin to go church and say Lord, thank you.

    “I have only one prayer and hope. I have met, in the course of my journey a lot of people who gave me intense hope that this nation will yet be great and it is my belief that the Next level which we are now embarking with the new crop of ministers will indeed be the foundation for the greatness of this nation.”

    He said that war against corruption embarked upon should be a permanent feature that would percolate through the state to the local government areas.

    The former APC chair said: “It should not be left for a President Buhari as if he is one unusual man there who wants to fight everybody. It is something that we must totally internalise.

    “We should use the carrot and stick. While we are punishing those who are threatening our nation whether by corruption or any other means, we must also at every turn or every stage reward service to the nation.”

    The Guest Speaker and former Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, gave Nigerians a wake-up call to take the country back from looters and promoters of ethnic sentiments as well as all those things that tend to divide the Nigerian people.

    “We, as a people must take our country back from the enemies of the country, the looters, the destroyers of our natural resource, from the professional defenders of ethnic interest or whatever name and all those who thrive on what divide us.

    “Nations are built by exemplary men and women and sustained by institutions that promote good governance. Oyegun is a shining example of one such person. He has served meritoriously.

    “Governance is not for the sake of governance alone or for those who are governing, but for the welfare of all the people that make up our country. That is why we have to grow the economy and have means of livelihood. According to a UN estimate, Nigeria will be the third most populous country in the world by 2050.

    “We might think it is a long time from now, but it is not. So, what are we doing now to ensure that there will be means of livelihood for these enormous numbers of people, their welfare, their security and their school. What kind of educational system that we should have to address this population.

    “Many of our people often think that the solution to our country’s problems is with the leader alone. We have tried that before and it did not work. Now, we have problems of corruption, insecurity and we are saying let Buhari solve it. President Buhari cannot solve alone.”

  • Be fair to all, PDP stakeholders tell screening committee

    Bayelsa State stakeholders at the weekend appealed to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to adopt the principle of fairness in screening aspirants for the governorship primaries of the party scheduled for September 3.

    The stakeholders under the auspices of the PDP Action Group (PAG) said the party must thread with decorum and absolute fairness in the entire process of conducting standardized primaries that would have universal acceptance.

    The group in a statement in Yenagoa by its President, Preye Ekeigha, said any plot to abandon fairness would send wrong signal and cause chaos capable of negatively affecting the party’s chances in the general election.

    Ekeigha asked the party to avoid divisive actions realising that the aspirants for the internal poll were many and qualified in their own rights to govern Bayelsa

    He said the party should not in any way undermine Governor Seriake Dickson in the entire process following his tremendous roles in sustaining the unity and successes of the party in the state noting that without the governor’s deftness and experience, the party would have been history in the state.

    He reminded the party leadership that the PDP is an opposition party at the federal level and should shun any decision that could cause disunity among its members.

    Read Also: Timipre Sylva and APC chances in Bayelsa governorship election

    Ekeigha said: “It is in this light that we admonish the screening committee to ensure due diligence but ensure that non is deliberately witch hunted or screened out to satisfy one personal interest at the detriment of our great Party.

    “The committee and our great Party must note that our leader and Governor,  Henry Seriake Dickson has worked very hard to sustain the unity and success of our dear party, therefore such tremendous and great sacrifices must be appreciated and supported to sustain our victory and unity.

    “While the committee has the prerogative to screen the candidates in line with our laws and conventions, we must be mindful of such decisions that will threaten our corporate existence and collective objective at all times. We cannot mortgage our political future to the opposing party.

    “Our Party must understand that as we begin the process to having a free, fair and standardized primaries that will have universal acceptance, we must thread with decorum and absolute fairness in our conduct.

    “This is bearing in mind that the number of candidates are many and they are all qualified in their own right to become governors of the state.

    “Knowing that we are in opposition at the Federal level, we must ensure that actions and decisions that will not foster and deepen our unity be shunned at all cost.

    “We wish the committee well in the discharge of their duties and hope that their eventual decisions will further endear the party to its members and the teeming Nigerian populace and the Bayelsa people to facilitate our expected victory at the November 16th, 2019 election”.

  • Alleged $140,000, $2m laundering: Court remands Atiku’s son-in-law, lawyer

    JUSTICE Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday ordered the remand of Abdullahi Babalele, son-in-law of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned him for allegedly laundering $140,000 during the general elections.

    The commission also arraigned Atiku’s lawyer, Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie and his brother, Erhunse Giwa-Osagie, on a separate charge of laundering $2 million.

    Both were also remanded pending bail.

    EFCC, in the two-count charge against Babalele, said he “procured” Bashir Mohammed on February 20 to make cash payment of $140,000 without going through a financial institution.

    Prosecuting Counsel Rotimi Oyedepo said the sum exceeded the amount authorized by law to be transacted in cash.

    EFCC added that Babalele “aided” Mohammed to make cash payment of $140,000 “without going through financial institution”.

    The alleged offence is contrary to Section 18(a) and (c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under Section 16(2) (b).

    EFCC accused Giwa-Osagie and his brother of “making cash payment of $2 million without going through financial institution”.

    It said the sum exceeded the amount authorised by law to be transacted in cash.

    The three-count charge reads: “That you Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie and Erhunse Giwa-Osagie, sometimes in February 2019 in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired to commit an offence to wit: making cash payment of the sum of $2,000,000.00 (two million United State Dollars) without going through financial institution, which sum exceeded the amount authorised by law and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a), and 1(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under Section 16(2) (b) of the same Act.

    “That you Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie, on or before the 12th day of February 2019 in Nigeria, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, procured Erhunse Giwa-Osagie to make cash payment of the sum of $2,000,000.00 without going through financial institution.

    “That you Erhunse Giwa-Osagie, sometimes in February 2019 in Nigeria, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, made the payment of the sum of $2,000,000.00 without going through a financial institution, which sum exceeded the amount authorised by law.”

    Read Also: Lamido, PDP and Atiku Abubakar

    The defendants pleaded not guilty.

    Oyedepo urged urge the court to remand them in prison custody in view of their plea.

    Defence counsel, including Mike Ozhekome (SAN), Ahmed Raji (SAN) and Norrison Quakers (SAN), said they filed bail applications.

    Ozekhome said: “My learned colleague informed me that he needs to react. The defendant has been in EFCC custody since August 8.

    “Therefore, I plead with My Lord to remand the defendant in EFCC custody pending the hearing of his bail application.”

    But, Oyedepo urged the court to remand the defendants in prison custody, which he said is the appropriate place to remand those who have been arraigned.

    Besides, he said EFCC’s detention facility was overstretched.

    He said: “The defendant has been arraigned and discrimination should not be seen in the treatment of citizens.

    “If my Lordship, after arraignment, sends unknown citizens to prison, I see no reason why this should be different.

    ”Also, our facilities are overstretched already and the Nigerian Prison Service is empowered to deal with such cases.”

    Raji and Quakers, for the Giwa-Osagies, informed the court about their pending bail motion filed and served on August 9.

    He said: “Oyedepo informed me that he couldn’t get hold of the application until today (yesterday) and has promised to file tomorrow (today).

    “We would also be pleading that Your Lordship allows the defendants to remain in EFCC custody pending the hearing of bail application.”

    Justice Oweibo ordered the defendants’ remand in EFCC’s custody.

    He fixed their bail application hearing for Thursday.

  • PDP BoT chair okays RUGA

    Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin, has thrown his weight behind the controversial Rural Grazing Areas (RUGA) programme.

    He urged Nigerians to embrace the establishment of cattle settlement as proposed by the Federal Government.

    Jibrin told reporters on Tuesday at his Nasarawa country home in Nasarawa State that the proposed settlement policy for herdsmen would promote peace and security in the country.

    He also explained that the programme would boost food security and improve on the health and standard of living of rural communities.

    Jibrin, who is also the Sarkin (leader) of Fulani in Nasarawa State, commended the Federal Government for introducing the RUGA programme in the country considering its importance.

    He said: “I am not in APC, I am a PDP chieftain. But when we talk of development and security, we should leave anything about politics, religion and tribe.

    “Whoever is ruling in Nigeria, if he brings any programme that will do away with insecurity, killings and will take care of the welfare of the people, I will go by that. My politics is not a do-or-die and I play politics without bitterness.

    Read Also: RUGA best option to settle nomads permanently – Gov. Bagudu

    “That is why I am commending the Federal Government for introducing the RUGA project in the country.

    “I and our tribe (Fulani) had embraced the programme. RUGA project includes the provision of hospitals, schools, water supply and electricity, among other facilities, which will have direct bearing on the lives of the herders.

    “Apart from that, it will also tackle incessant farmers/herdsmen conflicts as well as boost food security in the country.”

    Jibrin also called on the Igbo and Yoruba ethnic groups to embrace the programme in the interest of national development.

    “About 12 states in the North have already embraced it and the states that have already started the project included Nasarawa.

    “So, I am calling on the southerners, the Igbo, the Yoruba, among others, to embrace it, even though the project is not compulsory.

    “The project will keep the herdsmen one, safe and will improve on their welfare.”

    He therefore called on all herders and other Nigerians to shun armed robbery, kidnapping and other negative tendencies in the interest of peace and development.

    The PDP BoT chair also urged Nigerians to live peacefully irrespective of their ethnic, religious and political affiliation for development to reign.

  • Presidency, PDP clash over economy, security

    The Presidency on Wednesday clashed with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the latter’s claim that the country was collapsing under the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government.

    It (the Presidency) referred the opposition to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s economic scorecard in the past four years to show how it has taken the economy out of the woods.

    “Nigeria’s economy is not in trouble,” presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement last night. It was a reply to a claim by the PDP leadership that the government has scored below average in tackling insecurity, political uncertainties and poor economy.

    PDP spokesman Kola Ologbodiyan said the opposition political party decided to raise the red flag because the country was collapsing under the APC.

    But Shehu insisted that the economy had grown under President Buhari.

    He said: “In keeping with historical trends, there is less economic activity during the electoral cycle.  For instance, the economy grew by 2.35 per cent in Q2 of 2015 and 3.96 per cent in Q1 of 2015 as compared to 5.94 per cent in Q4 of 2014

    “While foreign direct investment can help, it is not the only source of investment in the economy. There is also domestic investment, which is either undertaken by the government or by the private sector.

    “It is also noteworthy that capital importation into Nigeria grew by 21.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 as compared to the last quarter of 2018.  Indeed, foreign portfolio investment (which is still foreign investment) was $7.14 billion in the first quarter of the year.

    “A look at business pages in newspapers shows that there is a lot of business activity going on in the country.

    “Two stories in today’s paper point to increasing economic activity.

    “First is that the profit of UACN grew in the first half of this year by 61 per cent (pg 12 The Nation).

    “Second is that Business Day (pg1) states that cargo imports jumped by 21 per cent in the first half of 2019.”

    Increasing imports, Shehu noted, is a pointer to greater economic activity and the availability of foreign exchange with which to conduct business in the country.

    He went on: “A major constraint to business was the Apapa gridlock which a number of companies had listed as the major impediment to doing business.  This situation has improved tremendously (see pg 23 of The Nation)”

    He said that President Buhari improved relations with China, the United States (U.S.) and Europe and won their support for the administration’s development agenda in his first four years.

    According to Shehu, President Buhari has channelled unprecedented sums of money into infrastructure development.

    Read Also: Presidency says Buhari remains best hope for Nigerian economy

    He said: “Capital spending has been kept at about 30 percent of annual budgets. Construction of roads, highways, public transport and airports has sharply increased. The government is spending heavily on power.

    “This, combined with private sector investment, has grown power generation capacity.

    “All said and done, President Buhari remains the best hope for the Nigerian economy. The country needs change and this remains the person with the will and determination to deliver.”

    The PDP leadership had expressed a deep concern that the nation, which it said was hitherto a prosperity hub and a reference point for democracy, personal freedom and good governance, was becoming a failed state.

    It lamented that the Buhari administration could not has been unable to guarantee any of its fundamental duties, thus making citizens “now desperate to take their destinies in their hands”.

    According to Ologbodiyan, the PDP leadership took the decision to flash the red flag after a crucial meeting in Abuja yesterday.

    The PDP statement reads: “The red flag has become urgent following the manifest total loss of faith by Nigerians across the board, in the ability of the Buhari Presidency to provide a democratic leadership that can engender a peaceful and secure nation.

    “It is clear that the APC and the Buhari Presidency have held Nigerians hostage. Nigerians are now being treated like a conquered people. They can no longer freely exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights; executive high-handedness has become a state policy just as the APC government, burdened by challenges of illegitimacy, has lost direction and only thriving in vindictiveness.”

    The PDP alleged that the government opted to breathe down on perceived opponents following what it called the collapse of the APC’s defence at the tribunal.

    It said: “Our party has also noticed that since the defence of the APC and President Buhari collapsed at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, the APC and its government have taken to harassment and repression of Nigerians by surreptitiously suspending constitutional provisions of freedom of speech and association in our country.

    “Many compatriots are being taken in as political prisoners all in a bid to foist a siege mentality and suppress public opinion.

    “Today, the Buhari Presidency cannot guarantee the security and safety of citizens. Bloodletting and violence have become the order of the day. Invaders, insurgents, kidnappers and killers have taken over major highways and communities; our nation’s security machinery have become overstretched; Nigerians now live in palpable fear; they cannot freely travel within their country and the government has no answers.

    “On the economic front, President Buhari has ruined our economy and led our nation to become the world’s capital of poverty, while condoning the humongous corruption that has become the hallmark of his failed administration.

    “Sadly, President Buhari’s anti-development policies, the corruption in his government as well as its failure to provide security have scared away foreign investors from our nation”.

    PDP observed that only recently, the United Nations declared that “43 per cent of Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has taken flight to other countries, adding that unemployment has gone out of proportion and there is no hope in sight.”

    The party called on Nigerians of good faith as well as the international community to speak out against the prevailing situation before it is too late.

    It urged Nigerians not to despair, assuring them that the PDP candidate in the February 23 presidential election would get judicial victory at the Presidential Election Petitions’ Court (PEPC).

    When contacted for reaction, the APC said it would not glorify the PDP with a response.

    Its spokesman Lanre Issa-Onilu told The Nation last night: “My response is that when the PDP starts making sense, we’ll respond to them. We have issues of governance to deal with an attempt to respond to their senseless talk will be a distraction.”

  • Release political prisoners, Secondus tells Buhari

    The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to release “political prisoners”.

    Addressing reporters yesterday on the side-line of a visit to Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri at the Government House in Yola, Secondus said there should be no room for political prisoners in a democracy.

    He said: “We ask President Buhari to release political prisoners. It is not done in any political dispensation. What we are seeing today is as if we are in a military era. He should urgently release political prisoners and allow a political atmosphere and a country where there is freedom of speech.”

    Read Also: Things you should know about Sowore’s ‘Revolution Now’ movement

    Urging the media to take the lead in the campaign for free speech, Secondus added: “I want to call on journalists and media managers not to sit on the fence. They can’t just sit and watch the country sliding. They played a major role in the past, removing the country from the hands of the military. They have tempered with some among them. It is time for them to join hands with the good people of Nigeria to stand on the path of truth, on the path of democracy.”

    The PDP National Chairman stressed that freedom of conscience must be allowed in a political environment.

    He alluded to the arrest of Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the Africa Action Congress (AAC) in the last election and Convener of the #RevolutionNowMovement.

    Secondus said: “The President must release political prisoners, particularly the presidential candidate of AAC, Sowore.”

    The PDP chieftain, who said his party’s leadership was in Adamawa State to commiserate with Fintiri on the death of his father, enjoined the people to support the governor to record high performance.