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Tag: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

  • Dickson, PDP kick as Bayelsa gets new CP

    A new Commissioner of Police has been posted to the Bayelsa State Police Command, a statement signed by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Butswat Asinim, said on Monday.

    Asinim identified the new commissioner as Joseph G. Mukan saying he took over from Ebere C. Onyeagoro, who had been redeployed to the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), Abuja, as CP Special Fraud Unit (SFU).

    But the state Governor, Seriake Dickson and the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) expressed reservations over constant changes of police commissioners in the state ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    Asinim in his statement said the new commissioner reported on November 2nd, 2018, but took over the command Monday. 

     H said: “He was the Commissioner of Police Special Fraud Unit, Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Abuja. He is a disciplinarian and a professional police officer, who has served in various commands and formations  in various capacities. 

    “The command, by this announcement, solicits the cooperation and partnership of the good and well meaning people of Bayelsa State to accord the new commissioner of police, the necessary support to discharge his duties of maintaining law and order in the state”.

    But Dickson read political meaning into the deployment of Mukan into the state saying the opposition party created an impression that the new commissioner would do their biddings.

    The governor while receiving defectors to the PDP recently, said: “Now they just told me that the fourth commissioner of police they posted to Bayelsa had been removed. 

    “They brought the one they said is their party member to come to police our state that we have secured so that they can use cult boys to create problem and kill people. We will not allow that”.

    Read Also: Bayelsa receives N24.1bn Paris Club refund

    Also at the weekend, the state PDP Chairman, Cleopas Moses, accused leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of influencing the transfers and deployments of commissioners in the state.

    He also decried the politicization of security in the state adding that seven different commissioners of police were sent to Bayelsa in the last two months.

    He said their aim was to instill fear in the citizenry and create a false impression that the APC would use security agencies to take over the state in the forthcoming elections. 

    He, however, expressed optimism that just as it was in 2015, the PDP would mobilize the people’s might against the federal might.

  • Court strikes out Ekiti LG chairmen’s suit against Fayemi

    An Ekiti State High Court on Friday struck out a suit filed by the sixteen local government chairmen seeking an order to restrain Governor Kayode Fayemi from removing them from office.

    The suit was filed by the council chairmen under the aegis of the state chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) who are members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    Justice Abiodun Adesodun struck out the suit following a notice of discontinuance filed by their counsel, Mr. Ezekiel Agunbiade.

    The notice of discontinuance was consequent upon the notice of preliminary objection filed by counsel to the defendants.

    The defendants in the suit are Dr. Kayode Fayemi (1st), Governor of Ekiti State (2nd), Attorney General, (3rd), Speaker (4th) and House of Assembly (4th).

    The 1st and 2nd defendants were represented by Mr. Ibrahim Olarewaju and Mr. Tajudeen Akingbolu while Mr. Kabir Akingbolu appeared for the 3rd defendants.

    The 4th and 5th defendants were represented by Mr. Adeoye Aribasoye.

    The defendants filed the preliminary objection to challenge the jurisdiction of the court to hear the suit on grounds that the action of the plaintiffs was speculative, preemptive, vexatious and unmeritorious.

    The preliminary objection was also anchored on the fact that no cause of action had arisen on the fate of the council chairmen at the time the case was filed.

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday dismissed the appeal filed by the state government against the judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) which nullified the dissolution of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) set up by Fayemi during his first tenure.

    The NICN verdict upturned the dissolution of SIEC led by Mrs. Bosede Adelusi and other statutory commissions during Fayemi’s first regime by former Governor Ayo Fayose when their tenure was yet to lapse.

    The court further ordered Fayose to pay salaries and allowances of the commission chairmen and members from the date of their dissolution to the end of their five-year tenure.

    Fayose challenged the NICN judgment at the Court of Appeal but the appeal was withdrawn by the new Attorney General, Mr. Wale Fapohunda, after which it was dismissed by the appellate court.

    The withdrawal of the appeal now leaves the SIEC led by Mrs. Adelusi as the state electoral agency recognized by law.

    It will be recalled that after dissolving the SIEC empanelled by Fayemi during his first term, Fayose set up a new state electoral agency led by former Chief Judge, Justice Kayode Bamisile in 2015.

    The Bamisile-led SIEC had conducted two local government elections including the one that brought the current set of council chairmen and councilors to office.

    The striking out of the suit now leaves the future of the LG chairmen hanging in the balance.

     

  • Atiku will reduce fuel price -PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has worked out a pricing template that will immediately crash the pump price of fuel in the country if elected President in 2019.

    The main opposition party accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of insensitivity by failing to do the needful in the last three years.

    In a statement on Thursday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP raised objections to the reported increase in the official pump prices of diesel and kerosene.

    According to the PDP, such increase will bring more economic pressure on an already impoverished nation, stressing that most businesses and homes across the country heavily depend on these products for sustenance.

    The party said it has been in high level talks with top international players in the oil and gas industry.

    The PDP said results of its engagements have shown that the appropriate pump price of fuel in the Nigerian market, under the current subsidy regime of the Buhari Presidency, should be within the borders of N87 to N90 per liter as against the N145 currently being charged.

    The party said with the current price template of crude oil in the international market, the Buhari administration has no justification to keep the pump price of fuel at N145 per liter.

    Read Also: 2019 poll: Osinbajo, Atiku renew restructuring battle

    It blamed President Buhari for watching Nigerians groan under the weight of high fuel prices, while a cabal at the presidency loot the funds meant to subsidise the product.

    The statement said, “The PDP notes that for every N145 paid for a liter of fuel, the Presidency cabal diverts a hidden N58, which Nigerians have continued to pay since the fuel price was increased from N87 to presumably subsidized cost of N145.

    “Apart from failing to account for the over N1.4 trillion allegedly siphoned through sleazy oil subsidy deals, the Buhari-led Federal Government is burdened to account for the over N3.49 trillion stolen under the hidden N58 per liter of fuel on over 50 million daily domestic consumption estimated in the last three years.

    “The PDP notes that had the Buhari administration heed wise counsel to be transparent in its dealings in governance and to engage more experienced hands on petroleum issues, the nation would not have been in the dire straits we face today.

    “The party however urges Nigerians not to despair as its Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has already worked out a blueprint that will end sleazes, ensure appropriate pricing template and free resources to guarantee availability of product on a national pricing regime”.

  • I learnt rudiments of politics from the late Anenih – Oyegun

    Chief John Odigie Oyegun, immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) on Wednesday in Abuja, said he learnt the rudiments of politics from the late Chief Tony Anenih.

    He stated this when he paid a condolence visit to the family of the late Anenih, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), adding that he was greatly saddened to hear of his death.

    Read Also:Obaseki declares three days mourning in Edo for Anenih

    “He was my original educator; he brought me up in politics and thought me the rudiments of politics, not in the classroom or anything, but by just observing him perform.

    “He had been through everything and he was everything in this country, the history of this country cannot be written in any meaningful sense without his major contributions being heralded,” Oyegun said.

    He added that he learnt peace, reconciliation and compromise from the deceased, saying he has never seen him being angry, vulgar or insulting.

    The immediate past APC national chairman, said that Anenih was always respectful and was a man of strong conviction.

    He maintained that though his family had a right to be sad over his death, they should look at the bright side, adding that all his children enjoyed his guidance in their maturity.

    Oyegun further added that though Anenih was late, his children should be happy because they had a father who would be celebrated by the entire nation.

    “Join in the celebrations, because your father was a great man and a political colossus of our time.

    “The sun has gone down on a political legend and he will be sorely missed, may God rest his gentle soul,” Oyegun said.

    He added that the deceased was a man, who loved his people and the nation and served passionately with all the courage and wisdom he was endowed with.

    He, however, said that the Oyegun family and the Anenih`s had become close through politics not withstanding political affiliation, marriage and friendship between children.

    “So we share your loss in every personal way, May the Almighty God console you and give you strength now and always,” he said.

    Oyegun was received at the residence of the deceased by his eldest son, Tony Anenih Junior and his widow, Justice Maryiam Anenih.

  • PDP governorship candidate cautions INEC over party list

    A governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Mr. Ladi Adebutu has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against changing the list of candidates submitted to it by the leadership of the PDP.

    Adebutu who stormed the PDP Abuja secretariat on Thursday alleged attempts by a faction in the party’s Ogun State chapter to smuggle in unauthorized list of candidates to the commission.

    Adebutu, who represents Ikenne/Shagamu/Remo North in the House of Representatives, said the national leadership of the PDP had dissolved all parallel state executives in the state.

    According to him, the state executive was later reconstituted following valid election into the various positions. He accused a faction, led by the senator representing Ogun East senatorial district, Buruji Kashamu of dividing the PDP in the state.

    He accused the Kashamu faction of attempting to submit list of candidates to INEC through the back door.

    Speaking with journalists at the PDP secretariat, Adebutu said,  “The National Working Committee set up election and screening committees. Forms were sold, we participated in the primaries and 40 candidates emerged in Ogun State.

    “But a parallel group printed forms, sold the forms, held a convention and people emerged. If we allow this kind of lawlessness where people stay in their rooms to pick candidates  and obtain court injunction to sustain it, then there is trouble.

    “The element of transparency is totally destroyed. The law clearly states that there shall be only one primary organised by a party.

    “This is a deliberate attempt to make the PDP a weaker party in Ogun State like what we saw in Edo and Ondo States. The time we could have spent campaigning, we spent it on conflict resolution in the two cases”.

    The governorship candidate urged the INEC and well meaning Nigerians to stand up and oppose those he described as enemies of democracy.

  • PDP faults Osinbajo on debt profile

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted Vice President Yemi Osibanjo’s account on the country’s rising debt profile. The party said the debt has escalated to a frightening proportion under the watch of the present administration.
    Speaking at a public lecture organised by the Sigma Club in Ibadan on Saturday, Osinbajo had stated that the Buhari-led administration inherited a debt of $63 billion and has only borrowed $10 billion since it took office in 2015.
    The Vice President said, “In 2010, our debt was $35 billion; $41 billion in 2011; $48 billion in 2012; $64 billion in 2013; $67.7 billion in 2014; $63.8 billion in 2015; $57.8 billion in 2016; $70 billion in 2017; and $73 billion in 2018.
    “The nation’s debt as at today was $73 bilłion, an increment of $10 billion from the $63 billion inherited in 2015.”
    Speaking further at the event, Osinbajo said the nation’s oil earnings stood at $119.8 billion between 1990 and 1998; $481 billion from 1999 to 2009; and $381 billion from 2010 to 2014, while the present administration has only earned $112 billion from June 2015.
    “The earnings from oil from 2010 to 2014 were the highest recorded in the history of the country. This was a period when the price of oil per barrel sold from $100 to $114″, Osinbajo added.
    But while addressing a media conference in Abuja on Thursday, the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan accused Osinbajo of deliberate distortion of facts and figures.
    The main opposition party described the vice president’s position as a desperate attempt to divert attention from the “failures” of the administration.
    Ologbondiyan said, “Vice President Osinbajo falsified financial templates to argue that this government has no blame in the accumulation of debts under its watch.

    “It is an incontrovertible fact that the Buhari administration has accumulated more debts that any other administration in the history of our nation.

    “Our dear Vice President forgot that Nigerians are aware that between 2016 and 2017, under President Buhari, our annual borrowing was about N3.7 trillion as against the N1.04 trillion annual borrowing perimeter between 2008 to 2015. Between 1999 to 2007 the annual borrowing perimeter was as low as N96 billion.

    “To deceive the public and divert attention from the alarming borrowing spree of the Buhari administration, the APC-led Federal Government converted domestic debt borrowed in naira under its watch, to the US dollar so that the very high exchange rate will make the domestic debt look smaller in dollars. This is a deceptive picture because domestic debt was accumulated in naira and not in dollar.

    “It is important to point out that the domestic debts of states were not part of the data base until 2013. Therefore, a sincere comparison of debts over the years should have focused on total external debt and Federal Government’s domestic debt.

    “In view of the above, if Vice President Osinbajo, a professor of law was not being economical with the truth, the appropriate comparison should be to have the domestic debt in naira and convert the external debt to naira to get national debt for each of the years, which showed that the Buhari administration has accumulated more debts that any other administration”

    Ologbondiyan pointed out that an appropriate comparison will further show that the annual growth rate of public debt was only 0.44 percent under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration; 20.14 percent under the Yar’Adua/Jonathan administration; and 29.6 percent under President Buhari.

    The opposition party charged the Vice President to refrain from bandying figures that he cannot substantiate, saying it was an attempt to score cheap political point.

    “Nigerians have moved beyond the lies, deception, propaganda and beguilement of the APC. It amounts to a huge disservice to our nation if a person of such high office of the Vice President will allow himself to be used to distort figures to deceive Nigerians”, Ologbondiyan said.

  • We want more than SGF, South-West PDP tells Atiku

    The South-West Zone of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to give more key positions to the zone if he emerges as president.

    The South-West Vice-Chairman of the party, Dr Eddy Olefeso, made the demand in Lagos on Friday night, at a meeting of key members across the six states in the zone.

    The meeting, which lasted hours, had in attendance a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George; the current Deputy National Chairman (South),Chief Yemi Akinwonmi; and a former National Vice Chairman of the party, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo.

    Also present were former Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Sola Obada; a former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Alhaja Makanjuola Badru; and a member of the National Assembly, Sen. Abiodun Olujimi.

    The party’s governorship candidate in Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde; the governorship candidate in Ogun, Mr Ladi Adebutu; and a former governorship aspirant in Osun State, Chief Akin Ogunbiyi, was also at the meeting, among others.

    Olafeso said though the promise of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) slot by Atiku was a good development, the zone deserved more key political and government positions.

    The Vice-Chairman said that the zone had been schemed out in the power arrangement of the party for the past few years.

    Olafeso said for Atiku to give the zone a sense of belonging and compensate “for the years of abandonment”, he should zone key positions of the Chief of Staff to the President and Àttorney-General of the Federation to the South-West in addition to the SGF.

    He said the South-West had the second highest voting population in the country and would demand its fair share of political positions if PDP wins in 2019.

    “We have been denied for too long. In 2011, the country under the control of our party zoned the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the zone and it was taken away.

    Read Also: I earned N60.2m in three years, Atiku tells INEC

    “And from 2011 to 2015, we were left just like that and the reverberating effect of that abandonment is the reason why we are still having the hangover of neglect till today.

    “Now we are here again, the party is working with a zone with 14 million votes, the second largest in the country.  We refuse and we will not accept where we finish the job in the next election and for one reason or the other, we will not be considered.

    “We don’t have to wait till after the election before we say what we want. We want to let the party and our candidate know that certain positions are strategic to governance and we want them.

    “Yes, the SGF is great, but there is nothing wrong with having the Chief of Staff and Attorney-General on top of it to compensate us for the denials of the past, so that all of us can work as a united front.

    “We will continue to fight for it, we will speak with a loud voice. We give so much, so the zone deserves a lot,” he said.

    While congratulating Abubakar on his emergence as presidential candidate, Olafeso said the zone was pleased with the choice of Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, as his running mate.

    He said the country was faced with serious economic challenges, and Obi had the pedigree that could realize the party’s economic vision for Nigeria.

    Olafeso said the zone was concerned about the travails of former governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over a case.

    He urged members of the party to stand with Fayose at his trying moment, saying the former governor was paying for being truthful and standing against injustice.

    “I was in the court the last time and I am glad to tell you that he has been granted bail.

    “We will do our best to ensure that he perfects his bail conditions and he is released soon,” he said.

    Olafeso also said he was confident that the verdicts of the Osun and Ekiti governorship elections, where the All Progressives Congress was declared winner in both polls, would be upturned at the tribunal.

    Olafeso urged members to be leave behind post-primaries disagreements and work together to ensure the party’s victory in 2019.

    He said the party had come out of its recent factional crisis to emerge strong, expressing the confidence that it would dislodge APC in 2019.

    Akinwonmi, on his part, said the party was working assiduously hard to wrestle power from the APC in 2019.

    He, however, said the party executive could not do it alone, calling on all members to do their bit to help achieve the electoral goal.

    NAN

     

     

  • 11,500 AAN members defect to SDP in Adamawa

    The Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adamawa State’s third most popular party after ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has received 11,500 members of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), including its state chairman, Mr Robinson Mathias.

    Mathias who led the defectors to a reception held for them at the SDP state Secretariat in Yola Friday, said their decision was prompted by ‘gross injustice’ meted out to them by the national headquarters of the ANN, and that they were in any case never satisfied with the manifesto of the party.

    Read Also:2019 : Ebonyi APC chieftain dumps party, picks SDP governorship ticket

    “Having carefully evaluated the manifesto of the party and the injustice by the national headquarters, we opted for the SDP which has a state chairman and governorship candidate that we have faith in,” Mathias said.

    Receiving the decampees on behalf of the National Chairman of the SDP Chief Olu Falae, the Adamawa State Chairman of the party, John Muva, assured that the new members and the old members would be treated in equal fairness.

    “The SDP is waxing stronger daily and we are set to win the state,” he stressed.

    The governorship candidate of the SDP in the state, Chief Emmanuel Bello, is a former House of Representatives member who has done much over the months to give visibility and reckoning to the party.

  • PDP to Buhari: Present your certificate to INEC

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to show proof of his vaunted integrity by presenting his academic documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and put to an end his certificate saga.

    The main opposition party also urged President Buhari to fulfill his obligation like other presidential candidates, by presenting his certificate, if he has any, instead of bugging the commission with affidavits.

    A statement Friday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, accused the President of seeking ways to short-circuit the system, instead of complying with set rules.

    The party said while its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has submitted his educational and other relevant documents to INEC, President Buhari has continued to insist that his secondary school certificate was with the military authorities.

    The statement said, “Indeed, a situation where President Buhari has been dodging the certificate issue raises huge questions of integrity, which demands that he makes available his credentials, or apologise to Nigerians, if he has none, so that the nation can move ahead.

    “President Buhari knows by now that Nigerians are no longer interested in his claims in an affidavit wherein he stated; “I am the above-named person and the deponent of this affidavit herein. All my academic qualification documents as filled in my Presidential form, APC/001/2015 are currently with the Secretary of the Military Board as of the time of this affidavit”.

    The PDP maintained that integrity strictly demands that President Buhari, particularly as the Commander-In-Chief write to the military authorities directing them to forward his claimed credentials to INEC, as requisite evidence of compliance with a key requirement for election into the Office of the President, under Section 131 (d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    “That President Buhari and the previous INEC succeeded in circumventing the law in 2015 does not make such acceptable in our current electoral process.

    “Moreover, President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) must realise that even their followers that were beguiled in 2015, are currently not prepared to accept ‘NEPA bill’ as WAEC certificate in the 2019 elections.

    “This is particularly as the certificate scandal contributes to the erosion of Mr. President’s rectitude to check the humongous corruption, ineptitude and recklessness among his officials which has brought the nation to its knees under his administration.

    “Furthermore, President Buhari’s failure to tidy up such grey areas also contributes to his inability to cultivate and earn the productive followership of the youth and the respect of the international community, resulting in retardation in national productivity and dearth of international development partnership in the last three and half years.

    “This situation has even been worsened by the revelations that President Buhari’s ministers and aides parade forged certificates.

    No country makes meaningful progress with persons with these educational pedigrees in its leadership.

    “The PDP, therefore, urges President Buhari to do the needful so as not to cause any frictions that will put INEC under further pressure ahead of the 2019 general elections”.

     

     

  • Bamidele, Adeyeye, Olujimi, others cleared for Nass Poll

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the names of National Assembly candidates in Ekiti State.

    The list of candidates cleared to contest was displayed at the gate of INEC state headquarters in Ado Elite.

    Parties including People’s Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), People’s Party of Nigeria (PPN), Democratic People’s Party (DPP) are fielding candidates.

    Read Also:I earned N60.2m in three years, Atiku tells INEC

    In the senatorial race, the APC candidate cleared for Ekiti North is a former National Assembly member, Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi.

    Former Houses of Representatives member, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele cleared to fly APC flag in Ekiti Central senatorial district.

    Bamidele defeated the incumbent Senator, Mrs. Fatimat Raji Rasaki in the APC senatorial primary held in Ekiti Central.

    Former Minister of State for Work, Prince Dayo Adeyeye is the cleared APC candidate for Ekiti South.

    Senate Minority Whip, Senator Biodun Olujimi, who is seeking re-election, has been cleared as the PDP candidate in Ekiti South senatorial district.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Air Force, Senator Duro Faseyi, who is also seeking re-election, is the cleared PDP candidate for Ekiti North.

    Former Ekiti State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Obafemi Adewale, is the PDP candidate for Ekiti Central.

    Three out of the incumbent House of Representatives members in the PDP fold were cleared by INEC to seek re-election.

    They are Mr Kehinde Agboola (Ekiti North 1), Mr. Akin Awodumila (Ekiti South 2), Mr. Segun Adekola (Ekiti South 1) and Mr Ayo Oladimeji (Ekiti Central).

    New entrants cleared to run in the House of Reps poll are Chief Bisi Kolawole (Ekiti Central 2) and Mr. Sola Omotoso (Ekiti North 2).

    APC House of Reps candidates cleared are Mr. Peter Owolabi (Ekiti North 1), Mr. Ibrahim Olarewaju (Ekiti North 2), Mr. Sola Fatoba (Ekiti Central 1), and Mrs. Omowumi Ogunlola (Ekiti Central 2).

    The rest are former Chief of Staff, Chief Yemi Adaramodu (Ekiti South 1) and former Ekiti House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Femi Bamisile.