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Tag: Peoples Democratic Party

  • PDP has no respect for my generation – Siasia

    PDP has no respect for my generation – Siasia

    [dropcap]T[/dropcap]he chairman of Mosilo group, and governorship aspirant in Bayelsa state, Moses Siasia, has disclosed that the Peoples Democratic Party does not have respect for the younger generation.

    Siasia, who said this recently in a statement signed personally, recounted his experience and support for successive governments in the country stating that he cannot continue being the PDP.

    “For many years now, I have been actively involved in supporting successive governments in my beloved country Nigeria.

    “I have always believed that every citizen needs to support their government for such government to succeed which was why I supported the governments of late President Umaru Musa YarA’dua and that of Goodluck Jonathan.

    “I had thought that by supporting these two governments, I would have fulfilled my patriotic duties as a citizen of my country. I have continuously done my best through my various contributions towards governance in Nigeria through my organization ‘Nigerian Young Professional Forum (NYPF)’.

    “I joined the PDP when one of my overzealous cousins went to my ward to talk about registering me there. I later found the idea to be a very good one and was excited about the whole idea of party politics and making a difference.

    “I continued to be actively involved in party politics since 2013 till date and the more I got involved in the politics of the party, the more discouraged I became,” he recounted.

    Siasia, who is the founder of the Nigerian Young Professional Forum (NYPF), lamented the ways and manners of running the party.

    He said: “I saw that so many things were not been done properly and always wanted to advice and make corrections but the more vocal I became, the more they isolated me, may be because they felt I was a threat to the business as usual way of doing things.

    “I always wanted to see a PDP that will transform into modern day realities and a party that places high premium on the ‘Youth’ who are the engine room of any nation but the more I pushed for youth inclusion in all affairs of the party, the more I was isolated. There was always greater emphasis on money politics rather than ideological prospects.

    “I have carefully watched over the years and have come to the painful conclusion that the PDP is not ready to change its old ways of imposition, godfatherism and gangsterism.

    “After the elections, it became very obvious and clear that Nigerians had rejected the PDP because they were tired of seeing the same old faces doing the same thing for 16years.

    “Faces that the people were convinced are corrupt and can’t bring the desired change to the people. The people wanted new faces and something new”.

    The Mosilo group chief further stated that PDP had a clear chance of redeeming its image in the eyes of the Nigerian people by injecting fresh ideas and fresh faces which would have automatically rebranded the party and restore confidence in the party.

    “I had presented myself to the party on many occasions urging them to use me as that face with a perfect case for Bayelsa State but the party has failed to take advantage of this great opportunity, he said.

    Siasia noted that the PDP had every opportunity to rebrand and rediscover itself after its defeat at the just concluded general election but it is now clear they do not wish to change or evolve.

    “I, have, therefore, today the 22nd of August decided to leave the party for ideological reasons.  I can no longer stay in the party because they do not have respect for my generation or me.

    “I have nothing personal with the party and will continue to respect her but I think young people have no future in the party,” Siasia summed.

     

  • I am not for do-or-die politics – Wada

    I am not for do-or-die politics – Wada

    Kogi state Governor, Idris Wada, has expressed disdain for do-or-die politics, saying he would accept defeat in a free and fair governorship primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The national leadership of the PDP had ruled out automatic ticket for the governor’s re-election bid, insisting that the governor must go through primary election to get the ticket.

    Wada, who visited the national secretariat of the party to obtain his nomination papers, said he was not bothered by the party’s position, stressing that the PDP constitution did not provide for automatic ticket for sitting governors.

    “If I win, I will thank God. But if I lose in a free and fair primary election, I will support whoever emerged as candidate of the party. It is not a do-or-die affair,” Wada said.

    He admitted that the Buhari Tsunami had a major impact in Kogi during the last general election.

    Wada, however, said contrary to the impression that the PDP may have faded out in Kogi, the party still had strong support base across the three senatorial districts.

    “I can assure you that the PDP is still vibrant in Kogi State despite the Buhari Tsunami. I am confident that we are going to win the November 21 governorship election,” he said.

     

  • Young PDP guber aspirant, Siasia, to dump party

    Young PDP guber aspirant, Siasia, to dump party

    Moses Siloko Siasia, 35-year old governorship aspirant in Bayelsa State, is set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for a new political party.
    Siasia, the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.) of Mosilo Group, is expected to lead over 700 youth leaders across the eight local government areas of the state to the new party.
    According to a source within Siasia’s campaign disclosed on Wednesday that the decision by the astute businessman to dump the PDP is based on the injustice to other aspirants by the newly selected executive committees of the party who are loyal to Governor Seriake Dickson.
    The source further told The Nation that besides the insincerity and unity of purpose observed by Siasia, the lack of internal democracy within the various organs of the party in the state contributed to the decision.
    The source also hinted that over 15 political parties within the state are willing to adopt Siasia as their sole candidate.
    “Moses Siasia is leaving the PDP because he is convinced that the party is not yet ready to change its ways of imposition and godfatherism.
    “He is convinced that the PDP has not learnt its lessons from the last general elections and will surely suffer the same fate at the forth-coming elections in the state. The governor is running the PDP in Bayelsa like a private estate and has sidelined former President Goodluck Jonathan, a prominent son of the state.
    “There is no reason to continue to stay in the party with him. It is advisable for everyone to leave the party for him so he can do as he wishes with it. Very soon, he will be the only one left in the party,” The Nation gathered.
    Furthermore, the source noted that Siasia will declare for his new party very soon adding that ‘he will not join APC’ because of the cultural mentality of the Ijaw people who see APC as the party responsible for the defeat of their kinsman at the presidential poll.
    The also added that Siasia, being very loyal to the Ijaw race, will never do anything to offend them or hurt their emotions. “He is a patriotic Ijaw son”.
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  • How PDP spent N11b forms proceeds, by Secondus

    How PDP spent N11b forms proceeds, by Secondus

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday gave account of how the controversial N12 billion generated by the party during the last general elections was spent.

    The money was the proceeds from sale of nomination and expression of interest forms from various elective office seekers across the federation.

    At a briefing in Abuja, the party’s Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, said the actual amount was not N12 billion but a little over N11b.

    According to him, “10 percent of the money went to the state chapters, five percent to the zonal chapters and another five percent to local government chapters of the party.

    “Another 15 percent was expended on assignments by various party functionaries and the rest was used to fund our campaigns. We raised money and we used the money for elections. We don’t need to go into details”.

    Protesting workers at the party secretariat have been at war with the Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) following the alleged embezzlement of the money, which they said was partly responsible for the poor outing of the PDP in the general election.

    The NWC had threatened to sack half of the workers and reduce their pay by 50 per cent, a development that further infuriated the aggrieved workers.

    Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, who led the PDP Senate caucus to the briefing, explained why the party must reduce the secretariat workers.

    Akpabio said: “We can no longer run to the Villa for cash so we don’t have the wherewithal to maintain that large number of secretariat workers.

    “The workers should understand that they are in a master-servant relationship in which you cannot force an unwilling master to keep a recalcitrant servant. We are definitely going to downsize”.

    Akpabio and Secondus complained about what they described as “harassment and intimidation” of the party’s ex-governors and former ministers who served under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    According to them, the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were singling out ex PDP public office holders for investigation.

    They urged the anti grant and security agencies to prove that only ex-PDP public office holders were corrupt and that those that were elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC) were saints.

    “We have been reading in the papers about corrupt practices in Rivers and Lagos State under the control of the APC. But the EFCC has not deemed it fit to invite the immediate past governors of these states,” Secondus said.

    The party leaders also complained about what they termed the arrest and intimidation of electoral officials in Rivers, Akwa Inom and Abia states by the DSS, saying the trend was limited to states under the control of the PDP.

    They cautioned the Federal Government against selective application of the law, saying the process must be seen to be holistic.

  • PDP NWC members on Ondo payroll, APC alleges

    PDP NWC members on Ondo payroll, APC alleges

    •Metuh: ‘allegation frivolous’

    ONDO State All Progressives Congress (APC) has alerted the public, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the police to an alleged reckless spending by the state government.

    The party alleged that despite the state’s meagre resources, Governor Olusegun Mimiko was still lavishing money monthly on some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s National Working Committee (NWC) members.

    But Metuh, in a reaction, described the allegation as “frivolous”.

    In a statement in Akure, the state capital, the APC’s spokesman, Abayomi Adesanya, said: “We reliably gathered that some PDP national officers are on the payroll of Ondo State government.

    “The money, which is running into several millions of naira monthly, was part of the agreement reached with Mimiko before controversially installing him as the Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum.

    “In view of the prevailing conditions of non-payment of workers’ salaries and emoluments, non-payment of pensioners’ allowances and gratuities for more than two years, neglect and complete abandonment of state-owned industries coupled with infrastructural decadence, the governor is still reckless in spending our commonwealth on frivolities and leaving the people of Ondo State to wallow in abject poverty.

    “At this crucial period of economic downturn, we expect the governor to apply austerity measures: mend loopholes, cut down wasteful spending, priortise resources and stop dispensing our money as an Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

    “We, therefore, call on the law enforcement agents to investigate Mimiko and these members.”

    The APC urged Mimiko to focus on the state’s development and fulfill his electoral promises, rather than spending the state’s funds to resuscitate the “dead PDP”.

    Reacting, Metuh said: “It is no longer a surprise to me that they are making these accusations against me. I am not from Ondo State and I am not a worker of the Ondo State Government.

    “I was in Ondo during our party’s last governorship election campaign and I also went there during the last presidential campaign. I have not been there afterwards.

    “I am happy that they are throwing accusations at me and not bombs or assassination attempts. Honestly, I am not surprise at these frivolous accusations and I am not deterred.”

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  • PDP’s BoT meeting in Bayelsa sparks row

    PDP’s BoT meeting in Bayelsa sparks row

    It was meant to bring peace. But a meeting by the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  in Bayelsa State to reconcile feuding groups ahead of the December 5 governorship election has provoked more controversies.

    The Acting Chairman of the party’s BoT, Dr. Haliru Mohammed, it was gathered, presided over the parley which was convened on Sunday at the courtyard of the former President Goodluck Jonathan in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area.

    It was gathered that the meeting was at the behest of Jonathan, who was said to be making efforts to halt the exodus of his party men to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    A core decision taken at the gathering, it was learnt, was the lifting of the suspension and expulsion of party leaders by the State Working Committee (SWC).

    The SWC, in a move supported by the Governor Seriake Dickson, expelled for anti-party activities during the last general elections.

    They were sanctioned a few months after the state chairman of the party was suspended for allegedly diverting N40million campaign funds donated by the former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke – an allegation he denied.

    But the move backfired and led to a prolonged crisis that saw some disgruntled people pitching their tent with the APC.

    The Saturday meeting, which started at 11am, however, ended with anti-Dickson forces claiming that the governor and the chairman of the state Reconciliation Committee were barred from the gathering.

    One of the anti-Dickson party members said the meeting, insisted that Dickson and Alameiyesiegha should not be part of it.

    The source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The two were asked to leave and were accompanied out of the venue by Haliru before the meeting commenced. They accused Alamieseigha of taking sides and insisted that he should not be party of the gathering.

    But a loyalist of the governor who spoke in confidence said nobody was walked out of the meeting.

    He said: “This is part of a campaign of calumny against Dickson. I was present at the meeting and nobody was walked out. It is senseless to say that a sitting governor who also initiated the reconciliation and a former governor who is the chairman of the reconciliation committee were barred from attending a meeting. It is unbelievable. Nothing of such happened”.

    Also, the Secretary of the state Reconciliation Committee, Chief Thompson Okorotie, said there was no time the governor or any member of the party was walked out of the meeting.

    He said the Haliru-led committee met with groups separately as part of diplomacy in resolving the crisis.

    “Dickson had an engagement to inaugurate the Nembe City stadium. So after concluding his meeting with the committee, he was allowed to go for his engagement with his entourage. We also followed him to Nembe.

    “Alamieyeseigha followed us to Nembe. Even the former President left shortly because the committee wanted to be left alone with the people they invited to meet. So, it is not true that he was walked out of the meeting,” he said.

    Also, the state Secertary of PDP, Mr.  Godspower Keku, said the meeting ended peacefully, with a call on feuding members and stakeholders to close ranks, ahead of the forthcoming governorship poll.

    He said the meeting resolved to rescind the suspension and expulsion of some members, who had despite the internal squabbles, remained in the PDP, unlike those, who defected to the opposition.

    He said the decision was taken in the best interest of the party, especially with a crucial election around the corner.

    According to him, the decision was taken on Dickson’s request.

     He, however, pointed out that, the lifting of the suspensions was still subject to the ratification of the state’s working committee, which is expected to deliberate on it soon.

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  • Tribunal grants Isiaka access to INEC’s documents

    Tribunal grants Isiaka access to INEC’s documents

    The Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal yesterday rejected bids by Governor Ibikunle Amosun and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gboyega Isiaka, from accessing the materials used in the April 11 election.

    The tribunal granted Isiaka’s prayer to have unfettered access to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) documents used during the election.

    Tribunal Chairman, Justice Henry Olusiyi said Isiaka’s prayer succeeded and was granted because it has considerable merit.

    According to Justice Olusiyi, Amosun’s counsel Olumide Ayeni was unable to convince the court how the granting of Isiaka’s prayer would be prejudice.

    Isiaka’s counsel Funminiyi Adeleke argued that INEC’s documents would assist in the determination of the substantive petition before the tribunal.

    Adeleke argued that granting the application would be in line with the applicant’s right to fair hearing as well as strengthening justice.

    But, in opposing the application at the time, Ayeni argued that it was grossly incompetent and that the tribunal also lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it

    The counsel also reckoned that the application sought to embark upon a fishing expedition for evidence, thus rendering it an utter and complete ruse calculated to mislead the tribunal.

    He explained that all documents being sought by the applicant have been in his custody as demonstrated by the available information before the court.

    In granting the application, Justice Olusiyi said the issue for determination was resolved in the affirmative in support of the applicant.

    “Counsel to the first respondent failed to show how granting the application would prejudice him.

    “There’s considerable merit in the application, it succeeds and is hereby granted,” he ruled.

    The tribunal, however, directed that Amosun’s and APC’s representatives should be available during the inspection, which should be concluded in seven days.

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  • 2016 Polls: PDP re-brands, fields young candidates

    2016 Polls: PDP re-brands, fields young candidates

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) having ruled Nigeria for 16 years and now the opposition party is considering fielding young candidates for the forthcoming elections in selected states.

    The PDP is considering young gubernatorial candidates for Bayelsa and Kogi states in its desire to re-brand the party by involving young people as the new faces of the party.

    Describing the party as one that is bleeding at the moment and in need of redemption is not an overstatement.

    Furthermore, there is no denial that majority of Nigerians have lost hope in the party after its 16 years tenure with a history of broken promises and haphazard performance.

    Some Nigerians now see the party as that of looters and old crooks not to be trusted. The massive onslaught against the party by the current ruling party, All Progressive Congress, (APC) is another factor responsible for the poor perception about the PDP.

    The APC is a party of young and vibrant ideas as exemplified by their involvement of young people in their presidential and generation election campaign. The APC recognizes the place of every Nigerian youth and were greatly rewarded by the youths as majority of them mobilized for ‘Change’ during the last general elections.

    The PDP National Working Committee and the Board of Trustees has woken up to the painful reality that Nigerians will no longer trust the same old politicians within its fold and as such they must evolve new ways to communicate, reach-out and get the support of the Nigerian people, and as such have decided to strategically position young people with good names to become the new faces of the party.

    It was gathered that the former president Goodluck Jonathan has also advised the party to consider fielding younger candidates in forthcoming elections of Bayelsa and Kogi and ensure they make provisions for some influential and brilliant young people in the BOT and the NWC at the next year’s Extraordinary Congress Election when new officials of the party are to be elected.

    Many elders within the party have now accepted the fact that they need to give the younger ones within the party some major roles and advised the party to zone at least 5 positions of the NWC to young people and another 5 to the BOT, following the appointments of Rinsola Abiola, Ismaeel Ahmed and Jasper Azuatalam, 3 young people into BOT of the APC in furtherance to giving young people a strong voice within the party.

    The NWC on its part has agreed to allow the younger generations take over Party Registration and Membership drive as they believe the youths within the party can get millions of Nigerians to once again have confidence in the party and join the party.

    They have also agreed that young people within the party should setup a robust online platform to include Online Membership Registration.

    One of the greatest challenges the PDP has always had is the issue of imposition of candidates on the party which makes it impossible for young party members to secure party tickets or even have the courage to contest for elective positions.

    With the new development within the party, more young people will be able to contest for elective positions within the party. The immediate beneficiaries of this new policy of the party might be two young men within the party who are contesting to become governors of their respective states, Moses Siloko Siasia who is contesting to be governor of Bayelsa State and Mohammed Ali running to be governor of Kogi State.

    Profile of both Persons:

    Moses Siloko Siasia, from Sagabama LGA, a 35year old young leading light of Nigeria was named as one of the 200 Young African Economic Leaders for Tomorrow by Choiseul, renowned French Institute in their 2014 ranking.

    Parisian institute describes Siasia as a young African leader who is reshaping the continent’s economic scene. It said men like Siasia embody the vigour and renewal of an entire continent and carry the hopes of an entire generation.

    Mr. Moses Siloko Siasia is the Chairman of Mosilo Group, with huge investments in Engineering, Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Agro Processing and Project Management. The Group is a wholly owned indigenous Company with strategic partnership with some of the world’s leading technical Companies. The Group has employed over 400 young people and has continued to up the ante in human capacity development locally, with offices in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and United States.

    He is the Chairman/Founder of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum, a non-governmental organisation made up of primarily young, dynamic and upwardly mobile individuals with innovative ideas that is aiding Nigeria’s development. Siasia conceived the NYPF as a platform for the development of young professionals in Nigeria through quality educational programs, national and global networking and leadership opportunities, the group has united over 7million young professionals globally with presence in 15 countries. A lawyer by profession, he is running under the platform of the PDP and has attracted lots of grassroots support most especially from youths and women.

    Mohammed Ali (39years old), from Dekinah Local Government Area of Kogi, is the immediate past LGA Chairman of Dekinah.

    The governor dissolved the LGA suddenly to frustrate his political ambitions. He has the support of many LGA Chairmen in the state. He was the Secretary National Association of Kogi State Students NAKOS 2002-2004, then became the President of NAKOS from 2004-2005.

    Ali became Special Adviser, Student Affairs to former governor Ibrahim Idris, then Liasion Officer 1 of Dekinah LGA and later elected substantive Chairman of the LGA. When he was Chairman of the LGA, he was elected as the Chairman of the Northern Local Government Forum which compromises of 419 LG Chairmen. He coordinated the 419 LGAs for Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidential Campaign for 2015. Now he is aspiring to govern Kogi State. He is a graduate of Bayero University, kano. He is an Economist. Has a Masters Degree in Economics with option of Petroleum and Energy Economics.

    A new generational leader, he has the support and network of all youth within the age bracket of 30-45years old in all the 21 LGAs of the state.

    Since he declared his intention to run for governor in the state, the PDP that was almost dying in the state has come back to life because the younger generation see his declaration as an opportunity for them. Many who have lost hope in the party have started to once again believe in her.

     

     

  • PDP takes credit for bailout fund

    PDP takes credit for bailout fund

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed credit for the N804 billion bailout fund ordered to be released to distressed states’ governments by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday.

    In a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, the PDP said a significant amount of the bailout came from savings accumulated in the Excess Crude Account handed over to the Buhari administration by the last PDP-led government.

    “This development is in clear contradiction to the earlier impression given by President Buhari to Nigerians and the international community that they should not expect much from his administration in its first 100 days because according him, upon assumption of office, he met a virtually empty treasury.

    “We want to believe that given the President’s release of such huge amount, he may have realized that he was earlier misdirected on the actual financial state of the nation at the time he took over. In this regard, we expect the President, as a respected statesman to do the needful to correct that erroneous impression.

    “Furthermore, we expect President Buhari’s APC administration as direct beneficiary of this savings initiated by past PDP administrations to appreciate the strategic importance of always saving for rainy days and as such guarantee prudent and transparent management of the nation’s resources now under its care,” the party said.

    The party charged the APC as a party in government to put its house in order, desist from what it termed injecting confusion and distracting the President from settling down to form a government and face the enormous challenges of governance, especially the implementation of his long list of campaign promises to Nigerians.

     

     

  • Few days old opposition not allowed – APC Scandinavia

    Few days old opposition not allowed – APC Scandinavia


    • We need each other to make Nigeria great again.

     

    The National Coordinator of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Scandinavia chapter, Ayoola Lawal, has said it is a welcoming development that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is coming on board as an opposition to the ruling party.

    According to him, as much as such it is a welcoming development of our growing democracy and for APC, ‘the PDP spokesperson should be more constructive and put on his thinking cap before making a berating statement against the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration’.

    “Trying to impress as an opposition on board is one thing, facing the reality of rebuilding, development and leadership is another.

    “The PDP in the name of an opposition party trying to pressurise PMB into acting in their paradigm ways of good governance is a political trick that will not work against this current administration.

    “The PDP government, while in authority, completely immersed the fabric of the nation in ruin and the economy in comatose but kept deceiving Nigerians and the world that all was well, which could be likened to the mega financial meltdown of the world in the recent years passed.”

    “President Muhammad Buhari pace of leading is necessitated by the current situations on ground. He is a strategist that sacrificed several years to prepare for the leadership as president-elect.

    “No individual or few days old as an opposition party can push PMB into deliberate traps and holes premeditated.

    “Sixteen years of heavy looting of the treasury of the nation, setting up the country for total failure and making it a sink ship, then turning around to be pressurising PMB after barely 31 days in office is a shame on any individual or opposition party,” he noted.

    Lawal further stated that President Buhari and the APC leadership will always welcome any real and constructive advice, as well as meaningful pressures that will be useful in meeting the justifiable expectations of Nigerians, which the party uses every opportunity to reiterate.

    He therefore maintained that: “Diarrhoea mouthed, vendetta pressure and ill-intent criticisms are not amongst the ranks. Well meaning Nigerian or party will at this stage in the annals of Nigeria be praying for PMB to get it right and take a very calculated steps rather than rampaging.

    “Nigerian is already in a dark mess caused by callous, greedy and shameless people who still has the gut to make vacuum noise in the name of opposition.”

    Thus, he prayed that Almighty God continues to strengthen the president and the APC leadership in wisdom to make the country great again. “Welcome, all to a new Nigeria of our dream,” he added.