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Tag: Peoples Democratic Party

  • PDP, APC trade blames over violence in Bayelsa LGA

    Bayelsa state chapters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday traded blames following violence that left few people injured in Brass Local Government Area.

    A member of the PDP, Tamara Owei claimed that members of his party were attacked by APC loyalists for defecting to PDP in the council.

    Owei, who is the Media Aide to the council’s Caretaker Chairman said: “Many PDP loyalists with various degrees of injuries are receiving medical attention at the hospital. However, relevant security agencies have been alerted on the situation.

    Owei further said that the Caretaker Chairman of Brass, Victor Isaiah, intervened to calm the situation.

    But the APC Chairman in the council, Mr. Yerite Kwesi, described the allegations as fallacious and erroneous adding that the violence was an internal rivalry of the PDP.

    Asking the PDP to come clean with the true situation of the incident, he said members of a group in PDP sustained injuries after they fought one another.

    He said: “Members of a pro-PDP group known as White & Mackey had a fight which eventually led to injuries. Hence, it is surprising to read that members of the APC attacked new intakes of the PDP.

    “This is not the first time the chairman’s media aides are disseminating such distorted information, as they have made it their duty to misinform the public with blatant lies just to score cheap political points.

    “As a party, the APC finds this abruptness distasteful and unprofessional as well as against the ethos of politics. We, therefore, urge the caretaker chairman of Brass and the Brass PDP structure to call their media aides to order as they are unconsciously fueling undue crisis.

    “Let it be noted that Brass LGA is completely APC and we are not moved by the reported defection of any of our members. We are strong and united as ever before and this would be made clearer in the forthcoming general elections”.

    Kwesi appealed to APC members to remain resolute and resist intimidation from the PDP.

    “We admonish the leadership of Twon Brass, security agencies operating in the area as well as the state government to call the caretaker chairman to order, as he is fond of causing unnecessary tension whenever he visits the council headquarters, Twon Brass.

    “He was graciously appointed to lead the people of Brass LGA and not to polarise and cause mayhem in Twon Brass community”.

     

  • Ekiti poll: Olujimi, Eleka differ over intimidation of aspirants by Fayose

    Two governorship aspirants of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in Ekiti State, Senator Biodun Olujimi and Deputy Governor, Olusola Eleka on Friday differed over alleged intimidation of certain aspirants by the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose.

    While Senator Olujimi, who represents Ekiti South senatorial district, affirmed that Fayose has been intimidating and harassing aspirants other than Eleka, the latter flatly denied the allegation.

    Olujimi however said she remained undeterred by what she described as the governor’s antics, adding that she remained the candidate to beat in the party’s primary election billed to hold on May 8.

    The female aspirant who was at the Abuja secretariat of the PDP to return her nomination papers, said cannot be cowed by the antics of the state governor to withdraw from the race.

    Olujimi said, “All aspirants, except Prof Eleka, are being intimidated but I can’t be intimidated at all. Many of our people have decamped because of what they are going through. The governor was biased, the party in the state was biased

    “All other former deputy governors aspiring for the position have left because of high handedness, because they are being harassed, because they are been intimidated. I can’t leave the party because of anybody. I can’t go to any other party party. The SDP is just a gimmick for the PDP to lose focus”.

    The federal lawmaker said she had no issues with Fayose or Eleka, stressing that the deputy governor is a political neophyte, compared to her track record of having been a commissioner, a deputy governor and a senator.

    “I know the terrain of Ekiti politics. I know where Ekiti people are coming from. I know where they are going. I know what they want and am ready to give it to them.

    “I have done a lot for them in the past. I have been there for quite a number of them. I have impacted positively on the people of Ekiti. If there is a level playing ground, I know I will emerge as PDP candidate in the May 8, 2018 primary election”.

    Eleka, who was also at the party secretariat to return his nomination documents, admitted being Governor Fayose’s anointed candidate, saying he was proud to be so favoured by the governor.

    He however insisted that he was in the race based on his personal conviction to better the lot of the Ekiti people by building on Fayise’s legacy in the state.

    According to him, the governor did no wrong by supporting his aspiration, stressing that Fayose reserved the right to support any aspirant of his choice.

    Eleka said, “To be anointed is not a new thing. God himself anointed Jesus Christ for a purpose. Everyone of us has a destiny to fulfill and it is going to be through certain means and persons.

    “Governor Fayose has the right to pick interest in someone and I don’t think he should be crucified for that. I have been under his tutelage for over two years now. I have acquired a lot of experience from him. He is my leader, my mentor and my benefactor”.

    Both Olujimi and Eleka however said they would support any of the aspirants that emerged the candidate of the party if they lost the nomination. They however stressed the need for free and fair exercise in the overall interest of the party.

     

  • A’Ibom PDP will hold governorship primaries

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom state has said that it will sell nomination forms as well as observe the nomination processes for all aspirants who wishing to contest the 2019 governorship election.

    State publicity of the party, Comrade Iniobong Ememobong in a statement issued on Wednesday, a copy which was obtained by our correspondent in Uyo, said that various endorsements of Governor Udom Emmanuel for a second term do not prevent other aspirants from contesting.

    “The Working and Executive committees of the Peoples Democratic Party in our dear state have said and will continue to hold that all candidates of our party for the 2019 elections will emerge from credible nomination processes that will avail equal opportunities to all aspirants.

    “The endorsement of political groups is external to the party and therefore has no binding effect whatsoever on the nomination processes.

    “However, the State Caucus of the Party had previously endorsed the Governor to run for a second term.

    “Despite this endorsement, all constitutional (party) processes will be followed in the emergence of all candidates of the party”, he said.

  • Buhari’s declaration: Agbakoba foresees upsets in 2019

    A leader of the National Intervention Movement (NIM) Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) on Tuesday said there could be “upsets” in next year’s general elections.

    Reacting to President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration to seek to re-election, Agbakoba told The Nation that it was within the President’s rights to do so.

    He said it was left for Nigerians to decide if the President deserves a second term.

    On what he thought about Buhari’s declaration, Agbakoba said: “It’s his constitutional entitlement but what really matters is whether this means he will be re-elected is an entirely different matter as this will be decided by Nigerians.”

    Agbakoba, a civil rights activist and former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president, said discussions were ongoing with a view to presenting a credible candidate who can match Buhari.

    He predicted that next year’s general elections would be competitive.

    On whether there is a credible candidate who can successfully challenge Buhari, Agbakoba said: “That’s to be taken for granted.”

    He added: “I am aware there are massive consultations and alignments underway throughout Nigeria and very credible candidates will emerge to make the elections competitive and with strong possibility for upsets across Nigeria.”

    Another activist lawyer, Mr Toluwani Adebiyi, said Buhari’s decision to seek reelection was “good for Nigeria”.

    According to him, the President’s honesty and discipline make him the best candidate, adding that a victory for the opposition party would take Nigeria backwards.

    Adebiyi said: “Buhari’s second coming is good for Nigeria. There are two things he possesses: discipline and honesty, rare qualities in present Nigeria Leaders. We need them and we will continue to need them.

    “No doubt he has made some economic restructuring and diversification, benefits of which may not manifest until later years.

    “Let him come back to reap and use what he had sowed and the looted money he had recovered for the betterment of Nigeria.

    “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coming back will only be to loot/waste the money recovered. It will be a reign of revenge.

    “Honesty and discipline cannot be acquired; they are inborn. No PDP leader has such qualities. They will only take us back and down the drain in a despicable form that Nigeria may never find recovery.”

  • PDP to MDAs: Respect the NASS

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned Heads of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) against disrespecting the National Assembly, saying that this behaviour will not augur well for the nation’s democracy.

    The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, gave the warning in an interview with the News men in Abuja.

    Ologbondiyan was reacting to banners placed at the entrance of the National Assembly, urging MDAs to quickly play the necessary roles to facilitate the passage of the 2018 Appropriation Bill.

    The banners read in part: `Budget Delay: Put the Blame Where it Belongs’; `Ministers are Responsible for the Delay in Passing the 2018 Appropriation Bill’, `Ministers are Subverting Budget Passage’ and `They Should Abide by Presidential Deadline’.

    Ologbondiyan stressed the need for the MDAs to appear before relevant committees of the National Assembly to defend their budgets before its passage as is the custom.

    Read Also: Imposition: Former Ekiti deputy governor Lawal quits PDP

    He said it was indecent for appointees of the executive arm to disrespect members of the National Assembly who contested elections and won just like the President.

    “The Ministries, Departments and Agencies have this attitude of disrespecting members and the institution of the National Assembly.

    “This has not been the practice since the return of democracy in 1999. What we see these days is that the National Assembly would invite Ministers and Heads of Agencies and they will just ignore them.

    “We are not helping democracy; the National Assembly is the bastion of our democracy; the Executive and Judiciary are always there but what gives us democracy is the National Assembly,” he said.

    Ologbondiyan urged the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led Federal Government to guide its appointees on what the National Assembly represents.

    NAN

  • Sen. Useni declares interest in Plateau governorship race

    Sen. Jerry Useni on Wednesday declared his intention to vie for the Plateau governorship seat on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ).

    Useni, who made the declaration at the party’s state secretariat in Jos, said that his principal focus was to restore peace on the Plateau.

    “I want to restore peace and justice to Plateau. I want to restore unity, love, dignity and prosperity to Plateau. I also want to restore the vision of its founding fathers.

    “Plateau belongs to us and our task is to make it a great place; that is what I want to do,” he said.

    The senator cautioned his supporters against any form of violence in the course of the campaign, urging them to focus on the issues that were beneficial to the Plateau people.

    In his remarks, the state chairman of the party, Mr Damishi Sango, appealed to PDP members seeking elective positions to remain faithful to its ideals after victory.

    He also cautioned elected members against defecting to other folds, saying that such defection was working against the development of strong principles in the growth of Nigeria’s democracy.

    Sango advised aspirants against attacking one another, saying that the internal contest for the party’s ticket should be seen and treated as a family affair.

    He advised PDP members not to be discouraged by the “hard stance” of the government in power against the opposition, and urged them to be committed to the goal of giving the Plateau people the change they were yearning for.

    The chairman promised to ensure a level playing ground for all aspirants, saying that the party’s primary elections would be transparent, fair and credible.

    Sango apologised to Nigerians for PDP’s mistakes that cost the party the 2015 election, and promised that the nation would witness massive development if PDP was given another chance in 2019 since it had learnt its lessons.

    Pof. Dimis Mailafia, Director-General, J.T. Useni Campaign Organisation, said that Plateau needed a competent hand to lead it to the promised land, and declared that Useni was the best material to lead Plateau “in these trying times”.

    “Useni has a lot of experience; he is an army general, former FCT minister, former military governor and now a senator representing Plateau South,” he said.

    NAN

  • Ikpeazu is a man of destiny – Fayose

    Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose has described the Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu as a man of destiny, and urged Abia electorate to vote him for second term in 2019.

    Governor Fayose spoke on Monday in Abia while Commissioning the  1.2kilometer Umuatako street in Osisioma area of Aba, the commercial capital of the state, constructed by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.

    Governor Fayose who was in Abia on a one day state visit, said that Governor Ikpeazu has performed, with tangible evidence of his achievements including the road he commissioned.

    He said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the only party that has all it takes to improve the living standard of the people.

    Governor Fayose also lauded the quality of the Road and standard of its drainage assured Governor Ikpeazu of the continuity of his administration while urging Abians not to allow blackmailers to hijack the state.

    “Abia people, I have come here again today to tell you that my brother, Governor Ikpeazu is a man of destiny. Anybody fighting him will fail. Those who fought him in 2015 failed, even when they went to courts, they also failed. I am urging you to vote him again in 2019 so that he will continue and conclude the work he is doing for you.

    “I have seen the kind of roads he is building for you, they are of high standard with quality drainage both sides, that is how to build a road and that is what Governor Ikpeazu is doing. Keep supporting him and our party the PDP. Don’t allow blackmailers and corruption people to come and hijack your state. Only PDP will bring development and change as Governor Ikpeazu is already doing.”

    Dr Okezie Ikpeazu who expressed satisfaction for delivering Abians legacies that have direct impact both in human and Infrastructural sectors, said that his promise to commission Umuatako road with Streetlights was fulfilled as  the Streetlights are now functional.

    Governor Ikpeazu however explained that his governance will not relent in providing the citizens with good projects which is the only vehicle that drives good leadership.

    Also, the immediate past Governor of the state and senator representing Abia central senatorial zone in the Senate, Senator Theodore Orji said he is proud to identify with the laudable projects of Governor Ikpeazu which were the reasons for his quest to ensure equity in 2015, noting that 2019 is a time of presenting the score cards of achievements by the leaders which only PDP can give.

  • Fear of mass exodus hits Southwest PDP

    Considered the weakest base of the Peoples Democratic Party in the nation, the main opposition may suffer further losses due to varying issues and contentions in the Southwest region, reports Sunday Oguntola 

    Disgruntled members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest region are gearing up to leave the party for another platform, it can be authoritatively revealed.

    The development may leave the party, which has only one governorship slot and a few House of Assembly members, further weakened and battered in the region believed to be its weakest base in the nation.

    Investigations revealed the impending exodus is not unconnected with several disaffections, contending interests and the fierce battle for tickets in the 2019 general elections. Our correspondent gathered that many members of the PDP have concluded plans to move to identified alternative platforms before the middle of the year.

    This, it was learnt, is to position them to win the tickets of the new platforms since their chances are becoming dimmer and threatened under the PDP, which many of them accuse of still living in the shadows of reputation for alleged impunity.

    Checks revealed that most state chairmen are not comfortable with the overriding influence of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party and its plots to impose certain candidates on them. At least two or three of them are said to be shopping for alternative parties in the run-off to the 2019 general elections.

    No longer at ease in Oyo

    In Oyo PDP, for example, the party is engaged in a supremacy battle between former Governor Rasheed Ladoja and governorship aspirant, Seyi Makinde. The Makinde’s group is said to enjoy the backing of the Southwest zonal chairman, Dr Eddy Olafeso.

    Olafeso is believed to have taken it upon himself to sell the group’s aspirations and interests to the NWC, a development that culminated in the recent attempt to share the 26-man state party executive between the two main blocs.

    The proposal is to give Ladoja’s group 14 slots and leave the remaining for the Makinde’s group. Though Ladoja has declared he would not contest the governorship seat, it is believed he plans to control the soul of the party for a candidate that would be loyal to him.

    Makinde, on the other hand, is interested in the governorship ticket with the NWC members said to be more disposed to its aspiration than backing someone sponsored by Ladoja who incidentally produced Oyo PDP chairman, Alhaji Kunmi Mustapha.

    This proposal has not infuriated Ladoja but also left him threatening to leave the party. He said: “The issue of the state executive being shared 14 and 12 does not even arise at all. There is and there will be nothing like that.

    “It was impunity that drove us from the PDP and if they allow the impunity to return, we will leave the party for them. We brought Accord less than four months to the 2011 elections and the people of the state accepted the party.

    “Wherever there is impunity, you will not find me there. How will some people think of going to Abuja to ask them to help to substitute names of their preferred candidates in the list of duly elected officers? It is very wrong and we will not accept that.”

    Sources close to him confided he has instructed his supporters to shop for a new platform. Should Ladoja and his supporters leave, it will leave the PDP further decimated and incapacitated in Oyo State following the recent defection of former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala and his supporters from the fold.

    Though Makinde has appealed to Ladoja not to dump the PDP ship, analysts believe it is just a make-belief considering he stands to gain should the political heavyweight leave the scene for him.

    Omisore, supporters out of PDP in Osun

    In neighbouring Osun, last week’s State Congress produced Soji Adagunodo as the new PDP chairman. This effectively shuts out the faction led by former Commissioner for Works, Dr Bayo Faforiji.

    His faction is loyal to former Deputy Governor Senator Iyiola Omisore, which battled tooth and nail to secure postponement of the exercise. It was gathered the Uche Secondus-led NWC stood its ground on the proposed pronouncement, leading to a boycott by the Omisore’s faction.

    Hours after the exercise, Faforiji also announced the movement working for Omisore to become the next governor is dumping the PDP for another political platform.

    The terse statement, in a WhatsApp platform, reads: “Finally, the long and tortuous journey in the dark tunnel of the discarded PDP days is over! What a sweet relief!”

    “Now is the time for us to hit the ground running. As soon as our next destination is determined and established, everyone must take up the challenge of spreading the gospel of “Omisore for Governor” throughout the nooks and crannies of Osun State.”

    Omisore has been the major financier and backbone of the party in the state. He has unsuccessfully contested the governorship seat twice on the PDP platform. With him and his supporters out of the PDP, there is no doubt the party is weaker for it in Osun.

    Aggrieved aspirants take on Fayose in Ekiti

    In Ekiti, Governor Ayo Fayose is facing serious internal crisis owing to support for his deputy, Professor Kolapo Olusola. The governor has declared Olusola as his anointed candidate ahead of the April primary of the party.

    Four of the aspirants former Minister of State for Works and immediate past PDP national spokesman, Prince Dayo Adeyeye; Senate Minority Whip and former deputy governor, Mrs. Biodun Olujimi; former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and ex-High Commissioner to Canada, Ambassador Dare Bejide and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi said the imposition of Olusola would lead to mass exodus of well-meaning members and elders.

    They also demanded for dissolution of the state exco headed by Gboyega Oguntuase for dancing to Fayose’s tune. In its stead, they said a caretaker committee should be constituted to coordinate the forthcoming primary.

    Adeyeye said: “The candidate he (Fayose) has chosen for himself is not a person that can win an election in this state. When you display billboards and you are writing ‘Meet Your Next Governor’ on them, you are putting yourself in the position of God. That is very annoying.”

    Senator Olujimi said:

    “Can anybody who wants to win an election for PDP wish us away? If anybody wants to wish us away in the party, the consequences will be grave.”

    Bejide said: “Section 50 (i), 50 (2) and 50 (2b) of the PDP constitution spells out how our candidate will be picked. Imposition, impunity and arbitrary action of a sitting governor is definitely ruled out and we will surely enforce the provision of the law.

    Ajayi said:

    “The so-called adoption was a fraudulent act, an illegal action. I want to tell you that 80 per cent of those working with him are with us. They are only working for the money they are earning.”

    Unease peace in Lagos

    In Lagos, former factional chairman Segun Adewale has already handed over key to the party’s secretariat in Ikeja GRA to Chief Bode George, a Board of Trustee (BoT) member. That effectively left the position for Moshood Salvador said to be in alliance with the Labour Party (LP) before the Supreme Court judgment sacking former national chairman, Senator Modu Alli-Sheriff.

    The factions entered a truce agreement following the judgment in Lagos to bring everybody on board with Salvador committing to implementing it. But he has reneged leaving him and George, estranged.

    The George’s elements in the party have been kicking, calling for resignation of Salvador for allegedly undermining their leader and going back on the peace terms.

    Led by Youth Leader of Alimosho local government, Adewale Akinte, the protesters carried placards with different inscriptions like: “Salvador is working for APC”; “Go, Salvador, Go!”; “On 65-35 we stand” and “Salvador, where do you belong, APC or PDP?” among others.

    The only PDP member in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Oladipupo Olorunrinu, believes the party leaders must move quickly to settle differences within the state chapter.

    Olorunrinu (PDP-Amuwo Odofin I) said the leaders needed to bring everyone on board ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    “They (people) want to be very sure we (party) are intact and well positioned to take over power.

    “My message is that the party leaders should be on top of all rancors and issues, though managing human beings is one of the most difficult things on earth,” he said.

    On March 8, the party held two parallel assemblies one led by the Salvador executive while former deputy chairman, Prince Ola Apena held another. Apena’s group said it was not happy with the way Salvador was running the party, asking him to step down from office.

    But Olorunrinu said the party was not factionalised but only experiencing differences.  According to him: “I will not say that there are no issues in Lagos PDP. “There is rancour and misunderstanding in every party, we cannot rule that out.

    “The most important thing is that the party Chairman, Hon. Salvador is intact already. It is just for him to settle the other executive. “There is really no faction at large.

    “It is two children that are fighting, but Chief Olabode George has said that Salvador still remains the Chairman of the party in the state,” he said.

    Daniel, others out of Ogun PDP

    In Ogun, former Governor Gbenga Daniels is yet to declare defection from the PDP. But his recent romance with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who has resigned from the party, clearly indicates he might also be on his way out of the PDP with his supporters.

    Daniels has been having a long-drawn between with Senator Buruji Kashamu(Ogun East) over supremacy and control of the party. The Federal High Court in Lagos in February affirmed the Adebayo Dayo-led state executive as the authentic leadership of the party in the state.

    The executive is backed by Kashamu, the sole financier of the party in Ogun State. But he has been battling for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and PDP to recognise his faction.

    A member of the PDP in Oyo State, Chief Bayo Adeoti, said the party has to regain its lost glories in the South West if it is serious about winning the presidency. “We have to get our acts together because without winning votes in the south west, we can as well forget the 2019 presidency.”

     

     

  • Osun 2018: New leadership changes permutations in PDP

    The outcome of last weekend’s state congress of the Peoples Democratic Party,(PDP) in Osun State, which produced Olasoji Adagunodo as the authentic chairman of the party, has unsettled permutations in the race for its governorship ticket, reports Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor.

    The election of Hon. Olasoji Adagunodo and others in his camp as the new members of the state working committee of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun state, after years of intra-party rivalry, following the boycott of the congresses by the faction loyal to former deputy governor of the state, Senator Iyiola Omisore, according to chieftains of the party, has opened a new chart of discourse in the race for the governorship ticket of the party.

    Some pundits say the new development, aside from ending the crisis that lingered for so long, may have ended the age-long hold of Omisore on the party in the state and throw up new chieftains of the PDP as possible guber candidates.

    Speaking to The Nation last weekend in Osogbo, Comrade Fasiu Ajetunmobi, a former ex-officio member of the PDP in Ife Zone, described the outcome of the congress as a mixed bag of fortunes for the party ahead of the 2018 governorship election. “We have on our hand a situation where our party is freed from an age-long encumbrance. Those who boycotted the election have been the problem of the party all along. We are happy they are no longer in charge.

    “At the same time, we are not happy some of our people are threatening to opt out of the party with them. But the majority members of the PDP in Osun are happy that Adagunodo is the man in charge and we are going to work hard to win the next election. Especially now that we have the opportunity to present a new, untainted and widely acceptable candidate to the good people of Osun state,” he said.

    The state congress, which was held at the Osogbo Township stadium, was monitored by the national officers of the party led by Emmanuel Agbor, who is the Chairman of the Electoral Committee. The congress was monitored and observed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Former National Secretary, Wale Oladipo; former deputy governor, Olusola Obada, former Minister of Youth Development and Sports, Akinlabi Olasunkanmi, former National Deputy Chairman, Shuaib Oyedokun, and a member of the House of Representatives, Oluwole Oke, all attended the congress.

    Also in attendance were a former Secretary to the Osun State Government, Fatai Akinbade, Francis Fadahunsi, a former chairman of the party, Gani Ola-Oluwa, former Speaker, Adejare Bello, National Deputy Publicity Secretary, Diran Odeyemi, frontline governorship aspirants, Ayoade Adewopo and Lere Oyewunmi, among many others, also graced the occasion.

    Speaking after his victory, Adagunodo lauded the National Chairman of the Party, Prince Uche Secondus, the National Working Committee and the National Executive Council of the party for saving Osun PDP from total collapse. “I commend their sense of justice and fairness in breaking the logjam which has bedeviled our party in this state for long and allow the constitution of our party to reign supreme through this internal democratic process.”

    The new frontrunners

    While the PDP currently boasts of over a dozen gubernatorial aspirants aside the embattled Senator Omisore, the emergence of a new leadership from a faction other than the one loyal to the former deputy governor has thrown up a couple of these aspirants as the men to beat in the race for the party’s governorship ticket. The Nation gathered that the emergence of these aspirants is largely based on the roles they played during he lingering crisis and their acceptability to party members across the state.

    “One thing is obvious now; Omisore or his group can no longer corner the governorship ticket as it was in the past. The members of our party will decide who will contest for us. As it is, we know those who are acceptable to our members across the state. We also know those who stayed with the people during the truffle and we know those who stayed with our oppressors but only returned to us when victory was near. All these will matter during the primaries,” Ajetunmobi said.

    Aspirants expected to vie for the ticket under the PDP led by Adagunodo include Gbenga Owolabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ayoade Adewopo, youthful Ife-born legal practitioner, former Secretary to the State Government, Fatai Akinbade, a business tycoon, Dr. Kayode Oduoye, and Lere Oyewumi.  Speaking to The Nation recently at a prayer session organized by the party, Adagunodo said any one of these aspirant was capable of winning the governorship election in September.

    However, further checks by The Nation within the party revealed that leaders and members of the PDP in Osun state may have resolved to shop for an aspirant who will compete favorably with whoever the ruling APC is planning to field and go along to win the September election for the opposition party. Thus, a few of the above mentioned aspirants have become favorites of party members across the state.

    “We are looking for a young, capable and acceptable candidate who will change the voting dynamics and deliver the votes to the PDP. We have a number of them and we are settling for one of them soon. In the same vein, we are equally considering who will be the deputy governorship candidate. We want to come out with a ticket that will attract the people of Osun to once again vote for PDP,” a party executive said.

    New permutation?

    The Nation further gathered that not a few party chieftains and members across the state are rooting for the candidacy of Adewopo, who Ajetunmobi described as the ‘new face of Osun PDP’. “He is one aspirant who is fresh and untainted by any past records. Aside that the fits the bill as he is young and widely accepted across the state by our members. He also stood firmly with the Adagunodo group all through the crisis,” he added.

    Ajetunmobi and others are not alone in their thoughts. Many watchers of the politics of Osun state insist the stiffest challenge to the old order within the party is being mounted by Ile-Ife-born legal practitioner turned politician, Dr. Ayoade Adewopo. According to reliable sources within the party, many party leaders are making up their mind about the Adewopo who they say has popularized the PDP more than any other aspirant in the last couple of years.

    “It is not politically incorrect to say that today in Osun, Adewopo is the man giving our opposition sleepless nights. This is for many reasons. One, it is the first time in a long time that a strong governorship contender will be sprouting out of the Ife axis to challenge the old order for the coveted ticket. Adewopo is not just from Ile-Ife, he is from a prominent family. He is also maternally a prince from Ede,” a party chieftain added.

    And if they have their way, those pushing for Adewopo’s candidacy across the state will prefer he is given one of either Lere Oyewunmi or Fatai Akinbade as deputy governorship candidate because, according to them, Adewopo’s youthful vibrancy will be greatly helped by the maturity and political experience of any of these two old warhorses.

    “Akinbade is no push over in Osun politics. He is a grassroots politician and has the resources and contacts to help the party. He has been contesting in the governorship election for a while now. He was a member of the PDP. But for age which is not on his side, he would have been a good choice too. No doubt, he will be a big asset on the ticket of the party as a running mate,” a chieftain of the party said.

    Speaking about Oyewunmi, Ajetunmobi said he is the best option if the party desires to win the election with Adewopo as gubernatorial candidate. “Lere is a PDP chieftain to the core and the people across the state love him. He may not posses the youthfulness and vibrancy we need now, but he is a man with a political arsenal that the party cannot ignore in its quest to win the next election,” he opined.

  • PDP’s crocodile tears

    It would appear that many Nigerians that had reacted to the so-called apology by Prince Uche Secondus, chairman of the former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), concentrated so much on the aspect of restitution, I would rather beg to differ. If Secondus tendered anything at the public discourse on contemporary politics and governance in Nigeria, organised by the party in Abuja on Monday, with the theme: “Nation Building: Resetting the agenda,” it was not an apology but an apology in reverse. After carefully reading the news reports, it occurred to me that it was not much of an apology but more of a scathing criticism of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    While I am not saying the administration has lived up to the expectations of Nigerians, it does not lie in the mouth of the PDP to pontificate on that, having presided over Nigeria’s affairs for 16 years, now better described as the years of the locust, and posting the unenviable record that has impoverished this country. Even what the former president, Goodluck Jonathan, who was in Sierra Leone to monitor the presidential election run-off when Secondus was tendering the so-called apology said showed the former ruling party did not meet to agree on the apology. As Secondus was ‘apologising’, the former president was busy lamenting what he sees as smear campaign against him by the Buhari administration. If Dr Jonathan sees the criticism of his person or government as an attempt to “impugn” his name as he claimed, then, what is Secondus apologising for? So, the former president expected the Buhari administration or Nigerians to be singing his praise or what?

    We acknowledge his conceding defeat after the polls, and that is part of what has qualified him to be in Sierra Leone as election monitor. But that is not to say we would not continue to remember how his government led us to this sorry pass. Clearly, if the PDP had held a family meeting before Secondus’ ‘apology’, they should have reasoned that nothing should be allowed to taint that apology if really it was an apology from the bottom of the hearts of its chieftains who ruined the country’s economy and consequently the future of millions of Nigerians.

    Unless it was the media that abridged Secondus’ statements, and rather emphasised the other aspects of his speech at the event, then we can see through the deceit in the so-called apology. Hear him: “I am the very first to admit that our party, the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria, made many mistakes. Consequently, we were roundly sanctioned by Nigerians occasioning our loss at the polls in 2015.

    “Let me seize this opportunity to apologise to Nigerians unequivocally for the several shortcomings of our party in the near and far past. It was all part of an evolution process without which there can be no maturity.”

    Apart from these quotes, the other aspects of his speech dwelt more on scathing criticisms of the Buhari administration. What readily came to my mind was that the PDP only wants to take advantage of Nigerians in next year’s elections once again. Personally, I do not blame Secondus; it is because the Buhari government has not been able to do the rightful with the PDP stalwarts, many of whom, I repeat, should be cooling their heels in jail. The ex-convicts among them who should be covering their faces in shame even turned up for the event and got red carpet reception for coming back home to the nest of robbers, which tells us how shame is in short supply in the former ruling party.

    Now, let’s try to analyse Secondus’ statements: “The PDP has embarked on a rescue mission, and together we will salvage this nation back from the grip of the incompetent All Progressives Congress, APC.”  If what the PDP has left as legacy in 16 years was its best, then with what is it going to salvage the nation? PDP should first salvage itself. Can a leopard change its spot? As a colleague said, the party’s stalwarts are too well fed – protruding bellies, rosy cheeks – to play the role of opposition. That is why they have been wobbling and fumbling like a baby trying to put on his shoes all by himself in their attempts to wear the opposition shoes. You can’t compare them with people who had been in the trenches for the better part of their lives as opposition spokesmen. How can a party that had the opportunity of ruling the country in 16 years but frittered it now be talking of salvaging it? A proverb in my place says you have to look at what the person promising to give you a cloth is wearing before knowing whether to believe him or not.

    But Secondus, who is no longer comfortable with his party’s second position, is not done yet: “Three years down the line and about 12 months to the next general elections, what is the state of our country? All gains have been clearly eroded through an acute lack of understanding of the intricacies of governing a complex state as Nigeria.” Hen? Did I hear Secondus right? What gains have been clearly eroded? Can PDP be talking about gains, when they had crude selling at some of the highest prices in the better part of their time, yet could not boast of any meaningful development?  Secondus should not make me open my mouth o, because if I do, this country would burn! He was even at a point talking about voting in the PDP next year because the party has experience. If he should be told, Nigeria does not need the kind of experience that PDP has. In this case, such experience is an added disadvantage.

    If this is the way PDP feels like apologising for the grievous harm its members did this country, then they should pocket their apology. For the party’s apology to be meaningful, it must come from its heart of hearts. That is to say; those who stole should first make restitution by returning what they stole to the country’s coffers. When Secondus said “our currency has been recklessly devalued from N199 in 2015 to nearly N500 a dollar before it came down to about N365 only due to an increase in oil prices and not any significant thing done by this government,”, he was only being economical with the truth. When PDP chieftains, their ministers, wives, etc. were stealing dollars and President Jonathan was alerted then, what did he say? Did he not shrug it off by saying if they ever stole that much, America would know? Was the then president, instead of fighting corruption, not busy drawing a line between stealing and corruption? At any rate, where did the party get the dollars the then president was allegedly distributing on the eve of the 2015 elections? Was it not Nigeria’s money, if true? Are these not the contributory factors responsible for our weak naira?

    Haba Secondus! APC may not have met the expectations of Nigerians so far; but that is not to say PDP is the next thing to look forward to for salvation. Nigerians are not the proverbial drowning man that would not mind clinging even to a serpent for help. At any rate, was Secondus not a part of the team that led us to this mess?

    But if the PDP is truly penitent, its leading lights, including some of its past chairmen, must be ready to prostrate at the Eagle Square in Abuja and Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, as well as in the other geopolitical zones and remain in that position until Nigerians tell them to get up. No good father will deceive his children. So, as Papa that Deceived Pikin, the PDP elders must be ready to dance naked in market places in the country’s six geopolitical zones. They and their children committed the crimes for which millions of Nigerians are now suffering.

    Eni bi’mo oran lon’pon. (Will someone help me translate this?)