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Tag: Peoples Democratic Party

  • PDP won’t lose sleep over Atiku’s US visa row, say party chieftains

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not lose sleep over the unresolved bid by the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to obtain a visa to travel to the United States.

    Prominent chieftains of the PDP who spoke with our correspondent yesterday dismissed the visa row as a non-issue, saying the party has left the matter for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to be fixated with.

    One of the party chieftains, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity on grounds that the PDP leadership might have a different view, said the matter has been put in abeyance.

    The source said: “As far as some of us are concerned, the hoopla over US visa for Atiku has been taken off the discussion table because we don’t want it to become a source of distraction to the party.

    “In the first place, we are working to elect a suitable President for Nigeria and not a President for the United States, so those who want to spend their time debating Atiku’s visa application can continue to entertain themselves.

    “What I can tell you is that the PDP as a party has moved ahead because we don’t believe that winning the 2019 presidential election would have nothing to do with getting a US visa.”

    Another party chieftain who did  not want to be quoted said the issue of Atiku’s US visa has become a lazy talk, adding that for now, the party was busy with its campaign strategies and had little time for such distraction.

    He said: “For how long are we going to dwell on a matter that is personal to Atiku as if traveling to America will win the election for our party and candidate?

    “As far as some of us are concerned, securing a visa to America won’t win the election for Atiku so we remain unfazed by the matter.”

    In his reaction, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said Atiku remained a global citizen, wondering how many US Presidents are given condition to visit Nigeria as part of requirements for their office.

    Stressing that traveling to the US is not one of the conditions for anyone to become the President of Nigeria, he recalled that the late President Umaru Yar ‘Adua never travelled to the United States before he became President in 2007.

    In a veiled reference to President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent medical trips abroad, Ologbondiyan said: “Nigerians don’t need a President that will go and stay in the United Kingdom for several months and wasting the country’s resources in the process.

    “Nigerians have never elected their presidents based on whether they have US or UK visas. And our Presidents are not elected on the basis that their actions and inactions should divide Nigerians along ethnic and religious lines like we have today.

    “Let the APC continue to be fixated on whether or not Atiku will be given a US visa. What we are telling Nigerians is that we have a candidate that is coming to fix our nation.

    “We have a candidate that is coming to address the suffering, devastation, killings, hunger, deprivation; a candidate that will correct the present strangulating economic indices which the APC has foisted on Nigerians.”

  • PDP hails court affirmation of its power, but fails to get rid of Kashamu

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday left the Peoples Democratic Party disappointed by ruling that the expulsion of Senator Buruji Kashamu and leaders of his Ogun PDP faction was unlawful.

    However, the same court affirmed the party’s power to expel an erring member of the party.

    National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, apparently had not fully read the judgment in the suit marked FCT/HC/CV/0303/2017 before rushing out a statement to commend the judge and also interpret it to mean that the verdict  validated the nomination of Ladi Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the party.

    Buruji Kashamu claims that he is the legal candidate. On Tuesday, he, along with his running mate, Dr. Reuben Abati, launched his campaign in Ijebu-Igbo as the authentic, court-endorsed governorship candidate of the party.

    According to a report posted on Kashamu’s Twitter handle on Thursday, the court did not grant the PDP all the prayers it wanted. Rather, it only got affirmation for its right to discipline members. And this came with a caveat: the sanctioning must follow due process and the rule of law.

    Justice Valentine Ashi, maintained that though the PDP was empowered by its constitution to discipline, reprimand, bar or expel recalcitrant members from its fold, it held that due process must be followed in the exercise of such powers.

    Justice Ashi had in a previous ruling on October 10, nullified the suspension in August  of Kashamu and other members of the party on the premise that the action was carried out without regards to due process and in total disregard to a pending suit on the matter.

    He held that  the PDP took the action in flagrant disobedience of a subsisting order the court made on December 7, 2017, which was restated on January 9, 2018, directing parties not to do anything to jeopardise the hearing of the pending case brought against Kashamu, Dayo and two others by the party itself.

    The court scolded the party for resorting to self-help by suspending its affected members, despite the pendency of the legal action they instituted against it.

    The judge trod the same path on Thursday. The judge did not validate the expulsion of Kashamu and the others.

    “The decision to suspend the defendants was nullified, because it was taken during the pendency of the suit, which suspension this court had reversed in an earlier ruling.

    “That the plaintiff’s first and second reliefs succeed is not to say that the suspension has been reversed. Parties are to revert to the status quo before the suspension. The plaintiff is at liberty to exercise its disciplinary powers, but with due process”.

    Justice Ashi declined to pronounce on the plaintiff’s other reliefs which include prayers for restraining injunctions against Kashamu and the Adebayo Dayo-led faction to prevent them from taking steps to disrupt the last non-elective convention that was held by the PDP.

    The judge said the reliefs were overtaken by events since the said convention had been held.

    The PDP had through a letter dated August 1, announced its expulsion of Senator Kashamu who is representing Ogun East and the state PDP Chairman, Engr Adebayo Dayo.

    The victims rushed to court for protection.

    In an obvious misinterpretation of the judgment, the PDP Publicity secretary Ologbodiyan urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) to copiously take note of the development and the conduct of the governorship election in Ogun.

    “The PDP invites Nigerians, the people of Ogun and particularly the INEC to take copious note of the judgment of the court.

    “The judgement, in suit no: FCT/HC/0303/2017, delivered today, Dec. 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 Kashamu is not a member of the PDP, and cannot, under any circumstance whatsoever, claim to be the governorship candidate of the party in Ogun, moreso, when he never participated in any of its nomination processes.’’

    Ologbondiyan said that going by the expulsion of the senator from the PDP in August, Buruji lost his membership of PDP and as such, did not partake in any of the party’s nomination processes.

    “He did not purchase the PDP governorship nomination form and did not participate in any way whatsoever in our Ogun governorship primary. Yet, he had continued to cause confusion and parade himself as PDP candidate.

    “Finally, the PDP commends the people of Ogun for standing steadfast with its governorship candidate, Adebutu, who is already coasting to victory in the 2019 polls,’’ he said. NAN

  • 2019: Edo PDP tasks leaders on ward campaigns

    The Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State has told its leaders to commence campaigns at various wards and local government areas in the state.
    It said the 2019 election is not about the PDP or the APC but about Nigerians calling for a change so that they could have the dividends of democracy.
    State Chairman of the PDP,  Chief Dan Orbih stated this at the flagging off campaign rally at Afuze, Owan East Local government.
    Orbih said the APC has failed to deliver on the campaign promises made to Edo people and Nigerians.

    Read Also: PDP presents Ogun governorship flag to Adebutu

    He urged the people to campaign for the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
    According to him,  “Let us take seriously the challenge before us,  so that,  as we prepare for the elections,  we must defend  the interest of the people which is the primary obligation of the PDP.
    “It is not only where you vote but where results will be collated and be ready to defend your votes. I here by declare the campaign flagg-off”
    ” It is now for the PDP leaders to take the  campaigns from local government to wards by ward, units by units because we need total grassroots mobilization  to ensure victory for our party,” Orbih said.
    About 2500 members of the APC defected to the PDP at the campaign.

  • 2019: The battle ahead in Benue Northeast

    As the 2019 general elections draw closer, more indications are merging that some senatorial seats will be keenly contested largely because of the personalities of the contenders, their political status and age-long rivalries, among other reasons. Uja Emmanuel in Makurdi reports that the Benue Northeast senatorial seat is one of such battlegrounds to watch out for.

    THE northeastern senatorial district of Benue State, otherwise known as zone A, is surely going to witness a fierce battle among the candidates jostling for its senatorial seat come 2019. Ex-governor Gabriel Suswam is the senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the area, while former national Chairman of the PDP, Chief Barnabas Gemade, emerged as the standard bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    And as if the parade of the political heavyweights is not enough, former Military Administrator of Katsina state, Col. Joseph Akaagerger, picked the ticket of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) for the senatorial election and the All Progressives Congress (APC), on its part, presented former Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) boss, Mimi Orubibi, as its candidate for the northeastern senatorial battle.

    Unlike in 2015, when the contest for the senatorial seat was a straight battle between Gemade and Suswam, a new dimension has been added to the 2019 election with the return of the immediate past Senator representing the district, Senator Joseph Akaageger, as a contender in the race. The ex-Milad was denied a chance to return to the senate in 2015 when he and others, including Suswam, were shoved aside by Gemade who made it to the red chamber on the platform of the APC.

    Since he lost the 2015 senatorial election to the present occupant, Gemade, the former governor of Benue State, has remained in the party and worked assiduously to reposition the then opposition party as he prepares to take a second shot at the seat in 2019.

    Suswam, unlike Gemade, remained in the PDP since he joined the party, Gemade, on the other hand, left the party and joined the APC in 2014, when it was obvious that he was not going to win the primaries against the then incumbent governor, Suswam, in 2014. The former PDP boss went ahead to defeat Suswam in the political tsunami that sent the PDP packing in 2015.

    Now, Gemade has dumped the APC. He did alongside Governor Samuel Ortom and joined PDP. But his return to his former party, where he was once the national chairman, hit the rocks largely because Suswam was the sole financier of the party prior to the return of Governor Ortom and his people. The attempt by Gemade to corner the PDP senatorial ticket on his return was resisted by Suswam’s camp.

    Before the defections, party congresses had been completed with the former governor having the upper hands in almost all party offices where he planted his men in the state, local government and the ward levels. At the zonal level, it is the same story as Suswam is firmly in control of PDP structure. This accounts for the reason why Gemade did not waste time, defecting again to SDP, less than one month after he left APC to join PDP.

    “In fact, Gemade accused Ortom of betraying him in the political realignment that saw both of them defecting, but Governor Ortom, through his media aide, Tahav Agerzua, dismissed the allegations saying “Ortom doesn’t betray people. He also joined PDP and canvassed for delegates and has no control over them.” From the above scenario, the former governor entered the race with his eyes boldly set on the senatorial seat.”

    He is not a push-over in the senatorial zone and the former governor’s greatest weapons are his benevolence and the cult-like followership he commands. With a large crowd of supporters who are ready to do his biddings at all times, he looks ready to wrestle the seat from Suswam come 2019. Dom Agya, as the former governor is known and called by his admirers, according to his supporters, has empowered many people and given many opportunities to youths and women in the zone. That perhaps explains why they are massively behind him in his quest to represent the zone in the senate.

    Gemade on his part is a founding father of the PDP, arguably one of its most successful chieftains in the state haven emerged as its national chairman and board of trustees member in his sixteen years of membership. A two-term senator and the current occupant of the Benue north-east senatorial seat, is today the SDP senatorial candidate for the zone in 2019 election.

    Some analysts insist the former chairman of PDP is a candidate to beat, having occupied the zone A Senate seat for eight years, and as such, cannot be said to be a push over. Gemade, it was gathered, has executed many protects in the zone since emerging as its senator. For these and other reasons, his supporters are saying in spite of his defection to SDP, he will retain the seat.

    In 2015, when nobody gave him a chance, he defeated an incumbent governor. The same scenario may play out in 2019. Even those who want Gemade out are not complaining about his achievements, but are saying he has completed two terms of four years each and should therefore give way for someone else to occupy the senatorial seat come 2019.

    This is just as some others are saying he is too old to remain in the senate as the representative of Benue northeast. But his supporters have found an answer to this; Baba shi Aza (means let Baba Gemade go back to the senate with experience). Personally, Senator Gemade is not bothered about what his detractors are saying, as he is going about his campaigns with a mindset that he is the better candidate.

    For Mimi Orubibi, little was known about this woman until she was appointed the Chairman of Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) through the influence of Senator George Akume at the inception of Governor Ortom’s administration. She was, however, fired after three years in the saddle following disagreement between Ortom and his estranged political godfather, Senator Akume.

    She emerged the APC senatorial candidate for Benue northeast after defeating four other candidates in the party’s senatorial primary election. One of the arguments of those opposed to her aspiration is that she is married to a man from Niger Delta. But her supporters insist that since she hails from Kwande Local Government, an area currently laying claims to the senate seat based on an unwritten zoning arrangement, she is the candidate to beat.

    Also, Orubibi is no doubt a leading candidate because of the popularity of the APC in the state, coupled with the fact that she is favoured by the disputed zoning arrangement in the senatorial district. Not a few analysts are also of the opinion that the support and backing she enjoys from former Governor Akume will also give her an edge over the other contestants.

    Akaagerger, the former military administrator in the race, once defeated Gemade and was elected senator for four years.  But his attempt to return to the senate failed as Gemade bounced back to defeat him. Today, he has joined the group of candidates hoping to prevent the current occupier of the senatorial seat, Gemade, from returning for another term in office.

    Interestingly, Akaagerger was the leader of the SDP in Benue State before Gemade came in after his short-lived return to the PDP and sent him packing. He cried foul after the process that handed Gemade the SDP ticket but the political weight of the former PDP national chairman was too much for the national leadership of the SDP to toy with. Consequently, they handed him all the party structures.

    Not to be deterred in his bid to return to the senate for another stint come 2019, Senator Akaagerger promptly picked the senatorial ticket of the PRP. But analysts are wondering how the politician commonly referred to as “Ambe u Konshisha”, clinched the senatorial seat on the platform of the PRP, a political party that is not well known in Benue State. Only the final outcome of the senatorial election can answer this question.

  • I am committed to Government of National Unity – Atiku

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, says he is committed to a Government of National Unity.

    Abubakar stated this on Friday in Abuja during his meeting with the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), an umbrella of over 45 political parties that endorsed him as their consensus presidential candidate.

    He said that PDP was a party that believed in the doctrine of Government of National Unity (GNU) and participation of many Nigerians irrespective of their political affiliations, since its formation as a political party in 1998.

    “I want to commit myself to the continuation of the doctrine of a GNU. We have a lot of work to do together. We should not go back and rest and say we have endorsed,” he said.

    The presidential candidate commended the CUPP for endorsing him as their candidate, describing the gesture as historic.

    “You have not taken a wrong decision because the PDP since we formed it in 1998, is a party that believes in national government,” he said.

    Speaking on the suggestion that elders should leave politics for the young, Abubakar said that democracy was not a process where one group replaced another but “a process where all groups participate”.

    “It is not a process where one group young or old, rich or poor excludes the other but a process where everybody participates.

    “So, when I hear young men say we are coming to replace our fathers, our uncles, our elder brothers and so on, I laugh.”

    The Senate President and the Director-General of Atiku Campaign Council, Sen. Bukola Saraki, called on the coalition to work hard to ensure victory for Abubakar.

    “We must be part of the process to usher in a new direction. The most important thing is that we want a change and a new direction,” Saraki said.

    An Elder Statesman, Chief Tom Ikimi, said that the journey was going to be difficult, but members of the CUPP were committed to it.

    The National Chairman of Kowa Party, Alhaji Saidu Bobboi, said that the party remained committed to CUPP and its decision on adoption of Abubakar as its presidential candidate.(NAN)

  • Lagos benefited nothing from 16-years reign of PDP – Ambode

    Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday said the state benefited nothing from the 16 years rule of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from 1999 to 2015.

    Ambide spoke at the National Consultative Forum of the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups, a coordinating body of all the groups campaigning for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in 2019, held at Nicon Luxury in Abuja.

    The governor added that the country would not go back to Egypt by bringing PDP back to power having crossed the Red Sea.

    Within three and half years of reign of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party, Ambode said has been able to lay a solid foundation for Nigeria’s economic growth and prosperity.

    Assuring that the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket remains the best option to take the country to the next level from 2019.

    “Sixteen years of PDP, I can say it clearly that Lagos State never enjoyed anything from them. Three and half years of APC, I can clearly attest here that whatever it is that we have achieved in Lagos in the last three and half years, the present Federal Government has largely contributed to the things that we have achieved be it in terms of right of way, be it in terms of approval for waivers for import duties and other things that have actually made Lagos to be on the progressive trajectory that it had been in the last twenty years.

    “So, for me it is very easy and it is just common sense that we have to uphold the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket to allow that economic progress and the growth in the GDP that we want for Nigeria rather than allowing it to get dismantled and then make us to go back to Egypt after crossing the Red Sea and we are not going back to Egypt,” Governor Ambode said.

    He said since assuming office in 2015, the Buhari administration had worked tirelessly to bring about fundamental paradigm shift and retracing the steps of the country for sustained progressive chart, adding that the onus is now on the entire country to give the APC a chance to consolidate on the massive development already embarked upon.

    “I just want Nigerians to understand and also to encourage all our members here that what we have started as a support group coordinating everything that is happening is not necessarily for you but it is a selfless service to put Nigeria on that trajectory that grows prosperity and also conveniently in another four years, we would make all Nigerians proud and I am very proud to be part of this.

    Read Also: Ambode vows to contain ‘bad guys’ at Xmas

    “We have made up our mind that we are going to work tirelessly; we would do everything that is possible in terms of supporting and campaigning to let Nigerians understand that there are two parallel lines between what we stand to offer which is growth and prosperity for this country and what PDP is trying to come and re-engineer to take us back to the debris of the past that we don’t want to ever go back to.

    “So, I just want to congratulate Mr President, Muhammadu Buhari and also the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and assure them that when they look at their back, they have true Nigerians who believe that yes, we want to build a skyscraper but we need solid foundation to be able to enjoy that skyscraper and then the next level we are thinking on is to be able to put the proper aesthetics and lay the proper foundation to allow Nigeria to make progress and that is what the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket speaks about,” the Governor said.

    Besides, Governor Ambode said it was also gratifying that all APC Governors were united in ensuring the victory of APC in the presidential election next year. 

    “All APC Governors, I can speak on their behalf, are resolved that the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket is what Nigeria needs and that is what we are going to pursue and I am happy that a handful of our gubernatorial candidates are here to align with us to make sure that what we would deliver is what Nigerians want and what Nigerians want is the APC President,” Governor Ambode said.

  • PDP receives APC defectors at flag-off campaign

    The Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State on Monday received defectors from other political parties at the flag-off of its political campaigns for next year’s general election.

    Over 2000 members of the All Progressives Congress and other political parties joined the PDP in Edo North Senatorial District.

    The defectors were received State Chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih.

    Chief Orbih said the campaign flag off was to offer prayers to solicit God’s guidance and mercy for next year’s election.

    According to Orbih, “We are here to commit next year general elections into the hands of Almighty God because we have been informed that the APC has finalized all dubious arrangements to rig the elections.

    Read Also: Fresh crisis in Southwest PDP over Kashamu

    “We are here to Join our faith together and call on God to destroy every evil plan of APC to rig the elections. Nigerians have suffered enough in the hands of APC in the last three and half years and we are here to call on God to neutralise every of their plan to remain in power beyond May 2019.

    “We can no longer continued to be held hostage in our country by insecurity, we can not continue to remain in darkness, we cannot continue to remain in country where no single hospital is working while the president travel to Europe now and then to receive medical treatment while the hospital he came to commission in Benin City remain without doctors and equipment.

    “The APC led Federal government has borrowed so much that if they remain in power beyond 2019 every Nigerian will be slave to the Eastern world, including China and Korean as a result of the external borrowing being carried out by the Buhari led administration”.

  • 2019: Atiku possesses qualities that will determine choice of Nigerians — Saraki

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says its Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, possesses the qualities that Nigerians will use to determine who they will elect in the 2019 Presidential election.
    The President of the Senate and Director-General of PDP  Presidential Campaign Council,  Sen. Bukola Saraki, said this at a news conference in Abuja on Friday.  
     
    Saraki said that Nigerians need a President who understands the economy, can drive investment and also secure lives and property.
    He said that PDP had a candidate who had understanding of what it takes to move Nigeria forward, drive investments, unite Nigerians and run inclusive government.

    Read also: Ekiti Governorship election : INEC declares Fayemi winner

    “We believe that Atiku Abubakar has the background, has the understanding and knows what it takes to address those issues,” he said.
    Saraki re-emphasised  that the party campaign would be issue based, saying “we are more focused.”
     
    He said what the party believed in was how the average Nigerian’s life and the economy were going to be better.
    “Largely, the most important issue in this country today is, are we better off? As the average Nigerian, are we better off? 
    “The answer comes back to the economy, and for it to come to the economy, you must be a President that understands what will create employment for our youths.
    “To do that, it’s not just by government spending money, it is to create environment where people will be ready to come and invest,” he said.
    Saraki said he believed that Abubakar, with his background and the time he had spent as vice president, was in a good position to move the country forward. (NAN)

  • Four more Reps members resign from APC, PDP

    Four House of Representatives members on Thursday resigned their membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The lawmakers announced their resignations in separate letters to the green chamber, which were read on the floor of the house in Abuja by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.

    Three members left the APC while a member dumped the PDP.

    Adekunle Akinlade, representing Egbado South/Ipokia Federal Constituency in Ogun and Muhammed Ajanah, representing Adavi/Okehi Federal Constituency in Kogi defected from the APC to Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and PDP respectively.

    Read Also:2019: We will end APC’s reign in Lagos — PDP

    Mr Salish Koko, representing Maiyama/Koko-Besse Federal Constituency in Kebbi, dumped the APC and headed for the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    Rabiu Kaugama who represents Mallam Madori/Kaugama Federal Constituency of Jigawa left the PDP for the SDP.

    In the letters, the lawmakers made references to irreconcilable issues relating to the party primaries as part of the reasons for the resignation and defection.

    The legislators said after due consultations with their constituents, it was time for them to part ways with the APC and PDP.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a gale of defection has continued to hit the lower chamber as aftermath of the party primaries.

    Many aggrieved members could not get their parties’ tickets for the 2019 elections.

  • 70 percent of my appointments will go to youths, women if elected president – Atiku

    The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, said if elected, 70 per cent of his appointments would go to youths and women.

    Abubakar said this on Wednesday in Yola while addressing a group of youths who organised a solidarity rally to endorse his candidature.

    Abubakar said 40 percent of appointments would go to youths, while 30 percent would go to women.

    “The remaining 30 percent will be managed by the elderly,” he said.

    Read also: The Peoples Democratic Party Of Nigeria (PDP): Lying as Modus Operandi

    While pleading with the youths to vote for PDP for better life, the former vice president noted that their votes were vital for his victory as they constituted 70 per cent of the nation’s voting population.

    “This election is for you; youths and women as you made up 70 per cent of Nigerian population of voting age.

    “As for me, I have achieved in life, but many of you have a long way to go; you have no house, no job. If you fail to vote PDP you will continue like that.

    “On Election Day, go and vote, protect your votes and ensure your votes count,” he said. (NAN)