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Tag: Peoples Democratic Party

  • Buhari administration addressing illegal migration, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned an attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to politicise President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement on illegal migration and trafficking of Nigerians.

    The President reportedly spoke during the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

    APC’s Acting National Publicity Secretary Mr. Yekini Nabena, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said:

    “PDP in its typical insensitive and unguarded stance on matters affecting the country is exploiting an issue that borders on the lives of Nigerians (mostly youths). It is a fact that Nigerian families have suffered grief as a result of deaths and other inhuman treatment that have befallen relatives attempting migration to Europe and other parts of the world.

    “Through support of international agreements/efforts towards curbing illegal migration, repatriation of stranded Nigerian migrants and addressing causes encouraging illegal migration of Nigerians, the President Buhari administration has demonstrated the political will to check the scourge.

    “The pains and suffering most Nigerians go through with the hope of reaching Europe has been well reported. Through relevant agencies, the President Buhari government has continued to mitigate the migration crisis, particularly in Libya and Mediterranean Sea.

    “Citizens will recall the presidential directive for Nigerians to be evacuated from Libya and other locations and be returned home safely. Already in place are interventionist programmes of the Federal Government to enable them start new and productive lives.

    “With unemployment and poverty identified as one of the root causes of illegal migration, the President Buhari administration is using initiatives, such as N-Power, Bank of Industry Youth Entrepreneurship Support, Central Bank of Nigeria support schemes, agriculture, as well as Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to reduce the rate of unemployment.”

  • Tambuwal: I won’t quit PDP if I fail to get presidential ticket

    Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who is a presidential aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said he hoped to emerge the party’s standard-bearer in the coming election.

    He said he would not quit the party if he failed to get the presidential ticket. Tambuwal, who was responding to questions from reporters in Sokoto at the weekend, said he remained the most credible and favoured aspirant.

    “I am confident that the PDP presidential ticket will favour me, God willing,” he said.

    House of Representatives former Speaker Tambuwal, who picked his nomination form a few days ago, is contesting the presidential ticket with 11 others, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, among others.

    PDP has zoned its presidential candidature to the North.

    The Sokoto State governor said going by his antecedent, PDP delegates would find him a suitable candidate.

    He said he joined the presidential race to serve the country, adding: “I have all it takes to be the president of this country.

    “My vision is to create a well-secure, buoyant and stable polity.”

    Tambuwal said his experience as a governor would strengthen his capacity to advance the cause of educational development for the benefit of youths.

    “My level of experience in Sokoto, which is one of the educationally disadvantaged states, will assist in charting a way forward for the sector’s prosperity and youth development”, he added.

    The aspirant, who noted that the world was knowledge driven, said: “Developing human capital will be key in driving the economy, with emphasis on youths and women, who deserve attention.

    “As a governor, I have since my assumption been making provision of the state budgetary allocation to the education sector in addition to the promulgation of enabling laws to facilitate the development of education.”

     

     

     

  • PDP to stop APC’s return to power, says aspirant

    Top Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) presidential aspirant and Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has said the All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) ambition to retain power will not see the light of the day.

    He said PDP would take over leadership next year.

    Tambuwal said his aspiration was in line with a mission and desire to save the country from misfortune and challenges it was experiencing under the APC government.

    He said: “Nigerians are anxious to witness a reversal. They are in need of a secure and economically-developed country, as well as a stable polity.”

    The governor, who addressed reporters at the weekend in Sokoto, predicted APC’s defeat at the polls, stressing that he had everything to emerge the PDP presidential standard-bearer ahead of the 2019 elections.

    The party has fixed its presidential primary election for October 5 and 6.

  • PDP dissolves Kano exco despite court order

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday announced  the dissolution of the  Kano State Executive Committee of the party.

    The dissolution came three days after a Kano State High Court restrained the National Headquarters of the party  and its  national  Chairman, Prince  Uche Secondus from “doing  anything or taking any steps that are likely to interfere with or disturb the officers tenure which are  protected under Section47 (1).”

    The order is supposed to subsist until the determination of the substantive suit filed by Umar Mai Goro and four others against Secondus , the PDP and the state chairman of the party, Mas’ud El-Jibrin Doguwa.

    National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said yesterday  in Abuja that the decision to dissolve the party’s state exco was reached by the national leadership of the party on Thursday.

    He added: “Consequently, a Caretaker Committee has been constituted to pilot the affairs of the state chapter of the party. Details of the Caretaker Committee would be made public in due course.

    “All members of the party in Kano state and across the nation should be guided accordingly.”

    Sources said in Kano that the dissolution is aimed at accommodating loyalists of former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The court gave the applicants in the suit the nod to  serve the 1st and 2nd Respondents the originating process outside the jurisdiction of the Court at Federal Capital Territory Abuja. It  fixed 5th November 2018 to hear the notice on motion.

  • Automatic ticket divides Kogi PDP

    The proposal to give automatic tickets to returning National Assembly members of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, ahead of the 2019 general election has ruptured the party in Kogi. The development has resulted in serious intra-party dispute.

    Many of the senatorial aspirants and other stakeholders are kicking against it. This has led to uncertainty and threats of mass defection.

    One of the groups kicking against the declaration is the PDP Youths and Masses Advocacy Group, which has declared the decision as impunity.

    Addressing pressmen yesterday in Lokoja, the state coordinator of the group, Mallam Ahmed Suleiman, warned that failure to adhere to a level playing ground in the state primaries will not only lead to mass exodus but will kill the party in Kogi.

    His words: “As a group with a firm belief in the ideals and manifestoes of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, we stand to condemn any act of impunity that will likely give rise to imposition.

    “The idea of an automatic ticket to representatives whose state the party is not having a governor is clearly and totally unacceptable. Any attempt at enforcing such will surely lead to mass exodus and the eventual collapse of the party at all level.

    “Also, a kangaroo primary in whatever form would be vehemently resisted. Let the people decide; the people own the party and not those leading the party.

    “The stand of the majority of people in the party supersedes all. The founding fathers of the party never contemplated automatic slot, if so, they would not have named it “people’s” party.

    “We are a party trying to bounce back from an electoral defeat at the national level, an appraisal shows that impunity was a major factor that led to our failure, that impunity we would never tolerate any more, we shall resist it with the blood flowing in our veins.

    “We maintain that a level playing ground be enabled, let the popularity of all the aspirants guarantee them victory, equally too, those incumbents seeking for a return ticket, let their scorecard or stewardship endear them to the people and not shifting the goal post in a manner to favour one aspirant or the other.

    “We must pick a lesson from the past and make the necessary adjustments.”

     

  • Presidency: Atiku obtains PDP nomination forms

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, was emotional at his Presidential Campaign Office in Abuja yesterday shortly after obtaining his Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms from the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Atiku, while receiving the forms from the Atiku Support Groups (ASG) which purchased the form for him, reiterated his commitment to the Nigerian cause and promised to do everything possible not to disappoint Nigerians if given the opportunity to rule.

    Speaking on the development, Atiku said: “The event today (purchase of nomination form) is significant and historic because this is the only time in my political career that young men and women in this country have come together without my knowledge or even consent to contribute their own hard-earned money to buy me an Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms.

    ”You could have seen that one of the ladies who spoke virtually succeeded in getting me to weep. This is because she aptly described the challenges every Nigerian is facing in this country today and she believed honestly and sincerely from the bottom of her heart that I could be an instrument of addressing those challenges.

    “So, for such a woman to believe that I have got those leadership qualities and including those of you who have brought out your monies to buy this form, is one of the most serious challenges I have ever faced in my political career.

    “And believe me, addressing those challenges  is possible because we have brought young men and women, Nigerians who have got the talents, who have got the education, who have got the experience, who have got all what it take to honestly turn this country around.”

    Atiku also attributed the slow pace of development in the country to the failure to harness the creative energies of young people by successive administrations.

    He said: “Putting together such talented  young Nigerians requires leadership and it is that leadership we have not been fortunate enough to have on a consistent basis that this country has not been able to take her rightful position in Africa and indeed, the world.”

    The Wazirin Adamawa at the event eulogised former Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, the late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua, on whose feet he learnt the rudiments of partisan politics.

  • 2019: Anxiety grips PDP over 13 presidential aspirants

    The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears to be at the crossroads over what to do with the high number of aspirants jostling for the party’s presidential ticket.

    So far, 13 aspirants have indicated interest in the ticket and there were indications at the weekend that the number may increase in the days ahead.

    Those in the race are former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwabo; President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki; former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido; former Governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi; and a former Special Duties Minister, Tanimu Turaki.

    Others are a former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; another former Kano Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau; former Governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa; a former Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang; an industrialist, Dr. Baba Datti Ahmed; and one Ahmed Buhari

    It was gathered that several meetings the leadership of the party held with the aspirants seeking the possibility of pruning down the number have so far proved futile.

    It was also learnt that fears expressed by the leadership of the party over the unwieldy number of the aspirants were said to have been waved the contestants, as they were all said to have insisted on contesting.

    Fearing recriminations that the outcome of the primaries might engender, the party is said to be rallying the aspirants to sign an undertaking to accept and embrace the eventual winner.

    Similarly, the party is also working on them to agree to join the eventual winner in the electioneering, with a proviso that none of them would defect from the PDP zone on account of losing the primaries.

    Investigation revealed that the party’s governors have been in consultations with the leadership of the party and other key stakeholders, with the view to projecting one of the aspirants as a preferred candidate.

    Discussants at the various fora during consultations were said to have put forward Tambuwal, Kwankwaso and Atiku for consideration.

    It was reliably gathered that some powerful members of the northern establishment are split down the middle over Tambuwal and Kwankwaso.

    It is said that the thinking in the camp of the northern power brokers centred on the need for the PDP to field a candidate from one of the states in the Northwest where Tambuwal and Kwankwaso hailed from.

    Some of the party’s governors, particularly a vocal one from one of the states in the South-South, are said to have bought into the idea of making a pick from the Northwest.

    Those that expressed preference for Tambuwal cited his relatively young age and the fact that he is not known to have any baggage that the government at the centre could hang on him.

    Similarly, they were also said to have reasoned that his constitutional immunity as a serving governor would shield him from unnecessary distractions from security agencies during electioneering campaign.

    On the other hand, they considered Kwankwaso very popular in Kano, with enough clout to challenge the cult-like following of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari, in the Northwest, particularly in Kano.

    Kwankwaso’s chances were also weighed with the large voter population in the Northwest, particularly Kano where the former governor hails from and where he controls a large grassroots political group, the Kwankwasiyya Movement.

    His performance in the 2014 primary election of the APC where he came a close second to Buahri, was also said to have come under consideration during the consultations.

    Atiku was highly rated with having built functional political bridges across the six geopolitical zones and established goodwill across the socio-economic strata.

    However, not a few of the stakeholders and the governors were said to have consider his advance age a drawback to his aspiration. Atiku will be over 72 before the presidential election.

    So far, Bafarawa, Tambuwal, Dankwabo and Datti Ahmed had come to obtain their nomination papers in person. Others aspirants have been obtaining their nomination documents through proxies.

    Kwankwaso personally picked his documents at 6.15 pm yesterday, while Atiku and Saraki obtained their forms earlier in the day through proxies.

    Lamido was said to have quietly obtained his form in a similar manner earlier in the week. However, Makarfi, Shekarau, Jang and Ahmed Buhari were yet to pick the forms by close of work yesterday.

  • Dogara denies aide over political aspiration

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara said yesterday that he had nothing to do with the political ambition of one of his aides who had declared his intention to seek a ticket to the Bauchi Sate House of Assembly on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Iliya Habila, a media aide to Dogara, wants to represent the Bogoro Constituency.

    Habila’s declaration earlier in the week was thought in some quarters to have received the blessing of the Speaker.

    However, Dogara’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan,said yesterday that the Speaker had  no input in or influenced the political aspiration  of Habila.

    He said: “Contrary to reports published by some national dailies, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, did not endorse any aspirant to vie for the Bogoro Constituency in the Bauchi State House of Assembly or any other.

    ”His constituents and political associates know that he does not interfere and will not endorse anybody, and neither will he ask anyone to seek election under the platform of any political party; whether the All Progressives Congress  or the Peoples Democratic Party.”

    Dogara though a  member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ,has not been attending party functions for some time now.

    He is a close ally of   Senate President Bukola Saraki who recently defected from the APC to the PDP .

    He announced on Thursday that he would be seeking the party’s presidential ticket for next year’s election.

     

  • Uduaghan in APC: The shape of things to come

    It is no longer news that Dr Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan has switched political camps, having dumped the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC). The presence of the former governor of Delta State at the national caucus meeting of the APC hosted by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday, put to rest months of speculation as to whether he would leave his former party or not. What is new, however, is that the movement of Uduaghan to the APC is generating reactions.

    In one of such reactions, a spokesperson for the incumbent governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, said the defection will not affect the fortunes of his principal’s party, the PDP, in the 2019 elections at the state at federal levels. That reactions are trailing the exit of the former governor from the ruling party is not unexpected.

    Uduaghan is not a small politician. He is one of the biggest politicians ever to emerge not only from Delta State but also from the Niger Delta. Having been a Commissioner and then climbed the political ladder of Delta to become the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), from where he was elected governor, whatever he does or does not do is bound to generate reactions. But no matter what anybody may say to the contrary, the defection of Uduaghan is bound to rub off negatively on the PDP in Delta.

    And the beneficiary of that development is his new party, the APC, which will reap bountifully from it. Since 1999 when Nigeria returned to democratic rule from military dictatorship, the PDP had held sway in Delta. In essence, the party has held on to power in the state for 19 years notwithstanding the efforts of the opposition forces, including Chief Great Ogboru, who has serially contested for governorship, to dislodge it.

    With the benefit of hindsight, Uduaghan is one of those who made it possible for the PDP to have a firm grip on the state. Now that he has exited the PDP, one does not need a seer to foretell that the army of loyalists that he has built on the political terrain over the past 19 years will follow him to the APC. The former governor, in fact, hinted of the mass defection that may soon hit the PDP in Delta in a statement to announce his crossing to the APC when he said that after explaining some of the deeper issues that motivated his decision to his followers, who had been urging him to stay on in the PDP, most of them agreed to join the APC in the near future. Consequently, he made it clear that he was going into APC as “’John the Baptist’ to the numerous Deltans that are coming in (to APC) soon – very soon”.

    The forthcoming 2019 elections promise to be the time to showcase how much damage the exit of the former governor has done to the strength of the PDP to win elections in Delta, especially in Delta South where Uduaghan hails from and where many believe he is likely to pick the ticket to run for the Senate. Meanwhile, those who are close to the former governor say he is not a frivolous politician who will exit a political platform without a good reason to do so, or the sort of politician that will act in a manner unless it is for public good.

    According to the sources, the former Delta chief helmsman weighed carefully the options of staying back in the PDP and thus remaining incapacitated in contributing to the efforts to move Delta and the rest of the Niger Delta forward, or joining forces with the APC which government at the federal level has, over the past three years, proved that it is committed to addressing the challenges of the oil rich region through its engagements with stakeholders and the deployment of social and infrastructural projects. He chose the latter.

     

    • Ejuwa, a marketing executive, sent this piece from Warri

     

     

  • Oshiomhole: Saraki’s ambition almost destroyed APC

    Says ‘I have been vindicated by his presidential bid’

     

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said that he has been vindicated about his comments that Senate President left the Party because of his personal ambition and not because he had the interest of the nation at heart.

    He said that Saraki’s personal ambition almost destroyed the APC, pointing out that it was a good thing that the Senate President has moved on.

    Oshiomhole who met with APC leaders from Kwara State said the the declaration of the senate President to contest the presidential ticket on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party has vindicated him and charged APC members in Kwara State to jettison their personal ambitions and work towards ending the reign of Saraki in Kwara politics.

    Chief Press Secretary to Oshiomhole, Simon Ebegbulem quote the APC Chairman as saying “when I was saying that all these defections is not about APC but the personal ambition of these people, they took hired writers to say I was being too hard. But Saraki’s declaration has vindicated me.

    “Thank God he has moved on because his inordinate ambition was almost destroying our party but he has failed. These are not principled politicians but bread and butter politicians who can go extra miles to pursue their selfish ambition and never think about the well-being of Nigerians.

    “As things stands today, APC remains the darling of the Nigeria people. Because PDP was the vomit of yesterday, our people will not chew it back today, not under three and half years. People have not forgotten and people will never forget. In fact what a senior palace chief in Nigeria said, he said this generation of Nigerians will not forgive the PDP in a hurry. Even to say you want to forgive you must do reparation.

    “The damage they did to our economy, the damage they did to our electoral process, even the culture of rigging was institutionalized by them. They introduced do or die politics. They are the ones buying weapons for young people to go into thuggery while their own children are schooling abroad. They introduced all these vices”.

    He said that reclaiming Kwara state from the grip of Saraki is a task that must be done, and asked APC leaders to ensure they conclude the election of executives from the wards to the state this weekend.

    Read Also: Oshiomhole inaugurates Cross River APC committee

    He said “the last time I spoke with the Minister he told me we have accomplished 80 or 85 per cent, that for me is not good enough because we don’t have more time. So this week we must achieve hundred per cent by whatever means. If you can’t do it, we have to help you get it done.

    “The two Deputy National chairmen working with the National Organizing Secretary and the North central Vice Chairman constitute a committee to complete whatever is left. It will not exceed Sunday this week.

    “I also want to appeal very strongly, that at this hour, we don’t want a situation where because of what is happening in Kwara, people who ordinarily will be quite happy to be a strong pillar of support, everybody want to be a governor, everybody want to be a Senator or in the House of Reps.

    “Our party is a party of change and we want to discourage people from putting their personal interest over and above the interest of the people of Kwara state. I am able to say under the leadership of the Minister, he has repeatedly said it that his interest is not for him to contest for the governorship of Kwara state or any elective office. I don’t think it can be more selfless than that.

    “I am very impressed with the enthusiasm of the people of Kwara state. They are experiencing a new dawn, a new sense of freedom and a sense of ownership of the APC where we are trying to do bottom up rather than top down.

    “Where we have politics of inclusion, no god father, everybody matters. Now I superintend over the liquidation of god fathers in Edo state, now I will not be here and allow and support the emergence of a new god father.

    “When we vanquished the god fathers we created a level playing field for equal opportunity to participate and that is what I think we have achieved so far and we need to take full advantage of that to do what need to be done for us to get on with the job of organizing, mobilizing.

    “I believe all of us, the APC leadership, we are anxious to come to Kwara state, to interface with the great people of Kwara state, beyond llorin to other major cities in Kwara.

    “Let them know and carry the message of change and use the broom to sweep away the past, including the thorn umbrella.  The task of sweeping away the past and rebuilding a new Kwara is a task that must be done.

    “That should give you the energy, the incentive and the appropriate spirit to work together so that victory will be ours, not for our own good but for the good of the great people of Kwara state who have been oppressed for such a long long time. Like they say they can be many days for the thief one day for the owner”.