The Nation Newspaper

Tag: r APC

  • Wike, Tambuwal, R-APC, Ohanaeze, senator fault DSS’ siege

    RIVERS State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) and apex Igbo socio-political group Ohaneze Ndigbo have condemned the siege on the National Assembly.

    They spoke in separate statement following the invasion by men of Department of State Services (DSS).

    Wike: action condemnable

     

    Wike declared that the assault on the National Assembly by the security forces was condemnable and has the capacity to truncate the nation’s democracy.

    He  said: “All well-meaning Nigerians should stand up against this dictatorship.  All over the  world, this has never happened.

    “Nigerians should not stand aloof and watch what is going on. This will consume so many  people if we don’t rise against it.”

    Wike called on National Assembly members to stand firm in defence of the nation’s democracy.

    Tambuwal, who applauded the immediate removal of DSS DG from office, described the action as a direct and unacceptable indication of contempt for the sanctity of the legislature as bastion of democracy.

    He said, as a former lawmaker and immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, he  confounded that anyone could contemplate and  carry out such an act, commending Acting President Yomi Osibanjo for his intervention.

    Incident disgraceful, says Ohanaeze Ndigbo

     

    Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Uche Achi-Okpaga, described the incident as disgraceful and disappointing.

    “Recent events in Nigeria, climaxing in the blockade and prevention of marked adversary senators and House of Representative members from gaining access into the legislative building altogether, are not coming to us as surprises.

    “Instead, they are sprouting in alarming crescendos in crystal vindication of our stand that only a restructured Nigeria can thrive henceforth”.

    “The event of today in particular is raw as it is a clueless brandishing from the executors. Nothing more can be an impeachable offence than this callous desecration of the National Assembly, which is the symbol of democracy,” it said.

    A statement by R-APC National Publicity Secretary Kassim Afegbua said: “We condemn the continued partisanship of the security agencies against the interest of Nigerians. We wish to insist that these categories of persons be denied visas or have their visas revoked on account of their anti-democratic conducts, which have consistently threatened the very foundation of our fledgling democracy…

    “The sacking of the Director-General of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) is good riddance to bad rubbish. Rather than devote energies and synergies into the Boko Haram fight and other cases of insecurity to give Nigerians a new lease of life, the DSS under Lawan Musa Daura has become one of a partisan lot against the collective interest of the State and Nigerians.”

    It said the Acting President should as a matter of urgency sack the Inspector General of Police, who has also shown careless disdain against the Nigerian people.

    “Let us for once instill some sanity in our democratic practices. Let us assume our role as the giant of Africa both in deeds and practice. We cannot afford to continue to tolerate these brazen abuses, invasions and drunken use of raw power against institution of democracy, in a 21st century world where the attraction should be more about development and growth.”

    ‘It’s bad example to other African democracies’

     

    Senator Isa Misau said the siege at the National Assembly was a “bad example to other African democracies”.

    Misau, who represents Bauchi Central Senatorial District, said barricading the gate of the assembly complex and denying some legislators access into their offices was a gross illegality and affront on democracy.

    Misau is one of the senators, who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People Democratic Party (PDP).

    He told newsmen while stranded at the entrance of the assembly complex that legislators were representatives of the people and were also elected to protect the principles of democracy.

     

     

    4

  • For the records: APC, R-APC, PDP, N-PDP and the macabre parable of the worm

    [I take no satisfaction in the fact that the article below that was first published in this column on August 14, 2016, seems to have foreseen the unfolding implosion and unravelling of the APC. The article is being republished for the light it may shed and the fortitude it may give Nigerians bewildered, angry, and confused about what is going on as our ruling class political parties break apart and come together again in new groupings, all the while consuming and wasting our national assets and resources. This is what I try to convey in the parable of the worm that is at the heart of essay. Think of the worm, compatriots: it reproduces itself endlessly and consumes everything organic, including its own kind]

    The falling naira, the falling ruling party and the parable of the worm: a postscript

    As I stated repeatedly last week in this column, there is no necessary and logical connection between the effective devaluation and deepening fall in the exchange rate of our national currency, the naira, and the apparent decreasing profile in the standing and credibility of our new ruling party, the APC, as a progressive force for change. If for one reason or the other, the world price of crude petroleum was to suddenly begin to go up and up and up, the value of the naira would begin to appreciate significantly. But this would not necessarily mean that the standing of the ruling party as a force for progress and genuine development would automatically also begin to improve. As a matter of fact, we have seen this happen before during the reign of the former ruling party, the PDP. During the sixteen-year period of its rule, we went through one or two cycles of fall and rise in the world price of oil and concomitant cycles of fall and rise, rise and fall in the value of the naira. But this had absolutely no effect on the standing of the PDP which, from day one to the end, absolutely never stopped in its fall from grace and, eventually, power. Can and will the new ruling party learn from this fate of the PDP? More importantly, what can we, the Nigerian people and nation, learn from this and what must we do with the lesson? In this postscript on last week’s piece in this column, I am invoking the following parable of the worm as a speculative and imaginative answer to these questions.

    The worm provides us with one of nature’s most fascinating profiles of consumption and self-reproduction. Because its digestive tract extends through the entire length of its body, the worm consumes endlessly and indiscriminately; the only things which it does not consume are inorganic materials like discarded plastics and tin cans. But as far as all organic materials are concerned, whether they are living or dead, warm or cold, moist or dry, worms will consume them endlessly. Perhaps the most gruesome thing about this omnivorous pattern of the consumption habits of worms is the fact that sometimes, they take up residence inside a living organism which they feed on until it dies, after which the consumption enters into another round on the dead carcass of the deceased host. If this profile is beginning to give the reader intimations of a parable about the PDP when it was in office for sixteen years, please note that this is indeed my intention.

    True enough, Nigeria as a whole did not exactly “die” and provide the putrefying body of the nation for the “worms” in the PDP leadership and rank-and-file foot-soldiers to feed on, but we came close to that macabre fate. Indeed, if you talk to the families of Nigerian soldiers killed in the campaigns against the Boko Haram, I am sure that they will tell you that to them, all those involved in Dasuki-gate that shared the monies meant to procure weapons are human “worms” feeding on the corpses of their loved ones. Thus, in the context of this week’s postscript on last week’s piece, the question that arises is whether or not the symbolic and metaphoric implications of this parable can be extended to our new ruling party, the APC. To answer this particular question, we must now move to perhaps the most fascinating thing of all about worms as a metaphor for limitless predatory consumption in nature and society, this being the myths and facts regarding the innate capacities for self-production and self-regeneration of different species of worms.

    For centuries, it was widely believed that if you cut a worm into two, each of the two halves would regenerate and become a new organism giving rise to two new worms. But this was and is not exactly true of all species of worms. For instance, take the case of the common earthworm whose scientific name is lumbricus terrestis. If you slice it too close to the head (yes, worms have heads!) which is very near the swollen part of the worm known as the clitellum, it will not regenerate and both halves will die. In other words, the self-regeneration of the earthworm is limited by the fact that only on the condition that you leave its head completely intact can it reproduce when it is sliced into bits. The species of worms that will reproduce and regenerate regardless of where you slice it and into how many parts you cut is the so-called planarian flatworm, planaria torva. This particular species in the family of worms is the ultimate in its capacity for endless self-regeneration. For instance, if you slice off just one-three hundredth (1/300) of its body part, that infinitely small part will grow into a new flatworm that will retain all the memory of the worm from which it was sliced! Let me state this clearly: the new flatworm regenerated from just one-three hundredth of the old worm, will have the full memory, not of all flatworms in general, but of the particular flatworm from which it was sliced! In other words, and to link this to consumption, the new flatworm will start consuming with all the memory of what its “parent” flatworm was consuming!

    I leave it to the reader to decide for herself or himself whether the APC is a lumbricus terrestis reproduction of the PDP or a planaria torva transmogrification of the former ruling party. There can be no question at all that it is either one or the other, for as we all know, close to a half to two-thirds of the leadership of the APC at one time or another in the past belonged to the PDP. Above all else is the fact that the extremely predatory consumption habits of the former ruling party have resurfaced widely and deeply in the leadership ranks of the new ruling party. What is still in doubt, what is still open to debate is whether or not the APC will do what the PDP never managed to do in its sixteen years in power and that is listen, actually listen, to the universal cry at home and abroad against the unrestrained, free for all, social-cannibalistic consumption that is without equal in the whole world. Permit me to dwell very briefly on this point before returning to the matter of whether the APC is an earthworm or a flatworm resurrection of the PDP.

    For close to about the last ten years of its sixteen years in office, the PDP was relentlessly barraged by denunciations of the excessive greed in the payment of salaries, emoluments and allowances to our public officeholders, federal, state and local, with particular reference to the legislators and state governors and deputy governors. Columnists wrote endlessly on the matter, including this particular columnist. Professional associations and civil society organizations protested unceasingly. At one stage, some NGOs banded together and took the matter to the courts, suing the National Assembly to reveal to the nation and the world the “secrets” of just how much the legislators were being paid. Significantly, the suit was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) that the National Assembly itself had passed into law. The case was won and the National Assembly was ordered to comply with its own lawfully passed legislation. But it refused to comply and more or less arrested the suit in endless court hearings based on appeals and counter-motions. When one of the legislators, Dino Melaye, broke ranks with his fellow legislators and tried to reveal the actual figures, he was severely dealt with. At one point in this saga of the total refusal of the PDP to listen to the cries for accountability, prudence and frugality in the use of our national wealth, the former Governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (now Emir of Kano) waded into the fray and revealed the staggering sums the legislators were paying themselves. For his “audacity” he was ordered to appear before the lawmakers on pain of being charged with contempt of the “august” legislative chambers. Sanusi duly obeyed the summons but held his ground and spilled more beans on the iniquity, the shamelessness of the greed of the legislators. Indeed, the matter made a spectacular appearance internationally when, on July 15, 2013, The Economist published a report which showed that Nigerian legislators were not only the highest paid legislators in the whole world but that each Nigerian legislator was receiving 116 times the GDP per person of the country. No other country in the world came remotely close to this staggering figure.

    The leadership of the APC, like that of the PDP before it, is giving every indication that it either cannot hear or will not listen to the cries that this must stop, especially now that the naira is in a freefall and there is crippling economic stagnation and great suffering and hardship in the land. This brings us back to the parable of the worm. Is the APC a lumbricus terrestis reincarnation of the PDP or a planaria torva regeneration of the old ruling party? I admit that this parable is a satirical and mildly playful imaginative rendering of a matter that is of life and death urgency to the majority of Nigerians. My justification for this is that satire and irony have their uses in times of great stress and hardship in the experience of individuals and entire societies and nations. Please think of the following grim fact, dear reader: there is no great personal consequence for most of the leaders of the PDP that the party is no longer in power and has perhaps gone into permanent historical oblivion since most of them have their loot, their billions of naira and millions of dollars. As we can see from what is going on in the courts in the trials of the accused mega-looters, most of them seem confident that with the help of an endlessly corrupted criminal justice system, they are going to get away with their loot. This raises this crucial question: are the bosses, the leaders of the APC not thinking along these lines and are therefore not really bothered whether or not they last in power beyond 2019? I mean, if you can make as much as you can now, before 2019, what does it really matter whether your party is back in power after the 2019 elections?

    Ultimately, the riddle of whether the leadership of the APC is metaphorically speaking a resurgent lumbricus terrestis or a planaria torva of the PDP is for the Nigerian people to figure out and take appropriate action. For, is there really a choice between the worm which has limited regeneration capacities and the one whose strategies and forms of self-regeneration after a dismembering are endless? No, there isn’t; one is just a more odious, more challenging version of the other. The real challenge is to shake off all species of worms from our national body politic.

     

    Biodun Jeyifo                                                                                                      bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

     

  • Defection: Rep denies R-APC

    A member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Lado Suleja (APC, Gurara/Suleja/Tafa in Niger State), has denied dumping the All Progressives Congress (APC) and teaming up with the R-APC.

    The former National Youth Leader of the party said in Abuja that it was mischievous to link him with defection as reported by a section of the media.

    Lado, a strong ally of former Kano State governor and a member of R-APC, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, said that his close relationship with the senator notwithstanding, he has no intention whatsoever to dump the ruling party.

    He said: “I’m not only a bonafide and card-carrying member of the APC, in the past I held the post of National Youth Leader of our party.

    “At this point, considering the ongoing political undercurrents in the country and my party in particular, it has become pertinent to affirm that I’ve not switched camp.

    “As a founding member of the party, my loyalty remains with the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “Though I have personal relationship with one of the leading members of the R-APC, Senator Musa Kwanwaso, and I  share his political ideology, I’m still a member of the APC.”

     

  • 2019: What will Tambuwal do?

    As the preparation for 2019 General Election gathers momentum in All Progressives Congress, following the threat posed by the R-APC and the recent alliance, there is confusion in Sokoto State over Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s next political move, reports Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

    FOLLOWING the emergence of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC), peopled by some members of the defunct nPDP block in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and  its participation in a coalition of political parties and groups, led by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as part of efforts to stop the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, the political future of a number of APC chieftains is now shrouded in uncertainty.

    While a good number of the R-APC chieftains have made it clear that they are headed out of the ruling party, strong indications continue to emerge that some leaders of the nPDP might not leave the APC, contrary to expectations. Many reasons, ranging from the ongoing effort by the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led National Reconciliation Committee, to personal and group political considerations, among others, have been adduced for this.

    Not surprisingly, one of the nPDP leaders whose political future remains uncertain is the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal. Leaders of the APC in Sokoto State, as well as the governor’s crowd of supporters and political associates are anxiously waiting for him to give an inkling of what he is planning to do as regards the R-APC and its defection plan as the 2019 general election draws nearer.

    Aside the R-APC issue, the people of Sokoto State are also uncertain about the next political aspiration of their current governor. While many gubernatorial aspirants, especially within the opposition parties, are currently traversing the length and breadth of the state in preparation for the next governorship election in the northwestern state, the people are daily inundated with talks of Tambuwal being interested in either the governorship of the state or the presidency of the country in 2019.

    While there have been speculations that Tambuwal intends to defect to the PDP where he would vie for that party’s presidential ticket and possibly mount a challenge against President Buhari and the APC in 2019, many of his close political associates back home in Sokoto State have declared his intention to stay put in the APC come what may. A good number of them are even optimistic that Tambuwal will remain in the APC and seek reelection as governor.

    Those expressing confidence that the former House of Representatives Speaker is on his way out of the ruling party have been analyzing some perceived political moves of his, like the visit last year to Delta State where he met with Governors Okowa (Delta) and Nyesom Wike (Rivers); a similar visit to Abia, another PDP state, as well as the most recent visit to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State in company of Senate Presdient Bukola Saraki.

    Tambuwal described Wike as “Ekwueme” (promise-keeper) of Rivers State and said, “it only takes a leader with vision, passion and commitment to come up with this idea and implement it”. He said Wike’s projects were tailored to the needs of the people and in accordance with modern governance. Expectedly, reports had it that the Sokoto Governor had endorsed Wike, a PDP chieftain, for second term as governor.

    These dalliances and romances with the opposition, so close to a general election, coupled with the fact that unlike some of his APC colleagues like Abdulai Ganduje (Kano), Nasir El-rufai (Kaduna) and Aminu Masari (Katsina), he is not very visible in the ongoing nationwide political stampede to declare Buhari as the only credible candidate the APC can put forward in 2019, are reasons why Tambuwal’s supporters in Sokoto are uncertain about what to expect from him.

    Confusion

    Pulling the lid off the confusion that currently pervades the political firmament of the state, a group of politicians within the ruling party, had few weeks back, given the governor a 48-hour ultimatum to declare his stand on President Buhari’s 2019 ambition and also tell members of the party whether he will be seeking re-election as governor in 2019 or not.

    The Adalci Buhari Saka group said Tambuwal must declare whether he is with President Buhari or not. The group also threatened further actions against the governor if his intention on the matter is not made known within the given time. Leaders and members of the group, who are also APC chieftains, had also accused the governor of anti-party activities.

    “We don’t understand his romance with the leading members of the opposition PDP which was widely publicized. He has a strong relationship with Governor Wike who is the perceived leader of the modern PDP and the national chairman of the party. He visits them and they come and visit him in Sokoto as well. We will do all that is necessary if Tambuwal does not state his position within the slated ultimatum,” spokesperson of the group, Bashar Lawal, said.

    On the contrary, arguing that he would stay put in the ruling party, the state chapter of the APC allayed whatever fear the people of the state, especially supporters of the governor and the ruling party, might be nursing in a recent press statement that assured all and sundry that Tambuwal remains the only person to be supported by the party for the governorship seat in 2019.

    While insisting no contender can match Tambuwal in 2019, the APC said with the governor as its candidate, it will take out other parties in Sokoto State before the next general election. The new chairman of the party in the state, Isa Sadiq Achida, said there was no political party in Sokoto other than the ruling APC and that if there was any it would be eliminated before the election. He said the party is still intact and waxing stronger , adding that they would win all elective positions in the state.

    According to the party boss, a former Commissioner in Tambuwal’s administration and one of his closest aides, APC will field the governor again as no candidate could match his quality in the next election because of his outstanding achievements. He said the governor had cleared liabilities amounting to billions of naira. “He settled gratuities and pensions of retired civil servants and severe allowances of local government employees,” he said.

    But another chieftain of the APC in the state, Alhaji Dahiru Yusuf Yabo, insisted that Tambuwal has some games up his sleeves ahead of the 2019 general election. According to the 2011 governorship aspirant of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the state, the governor is currently working against the interest of President Buhari and the APC.

    “We know him as a governor under the platform of APC but it has been reported widely that he is romancing some personalities from outside his party, particularly those in PDP. There are speculations that he (Tambuwal) was among the people who funded the new leadership of PDP and his frequent visit to Rivers State, which is literally the PDP headquarters and where the party national chairman comes from.

    “We are also aware about his deep and close relationship with the governor of Rivers State. Being old folks in politics, we can read along the lines and understand the movements of any politician, especially toward an election time. With what is happening now at the National Assembly, one can see clearly too that there are a lot of apprehensions.  “Also, knowing the relationship of Governor Tambuwal with the Speaker of the House of Representatives who everybody knows he galvanised support for, to become the Speaker, we knew he must have an influence on the current happenings in the National Assembly. All these things put together, we felt we are even helping him to clear the air on some public misconceptions about his personality and political moves toward 2019,” he said.

    Face off with Wammako?

    To further compound the uncertainty surrounding Tambuwal’s next political action, there are talks about a rift between him and his political godfather and former governor of the state, Senator Aliyu Wamakko. Sources within the state even claimed the crisis between the two associates may have led to the recent dissolution of the State Executive Council (SEC).

    The dissolved cabinet, according to party sources, comprised of supporters of both Tambuwal and Wammako supporters. Tambuwal sacked all members of the cabinet after two weeks of alleged political brickbats between him and his predecessor. Though the rift has been on for a while now, it allegedly blew open at the national convention of the APC where Abubakar Makama Mainasara, a known ally of Wammako’s ran against Inuwa Abdulkadir, an ally of the governor.

    Few days after the face-off at the convention the two camps traded words over an rally held in the state capital by party members to protest against Wammako. While the Senator’s people alleged that the rally was sponsored by the state government to embarrass the former governor, Tambuwal’s camp denied any hand in it and accused those making the allegations of whipping up crisis within the party.

    Announcing the sack of the cabinet, a statement by the Director–General, Media and Public Affairs, to the Governor, Mallam Abubakar Abu Shekara, said: “The Governor of Sokoto State,  Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has dissolved the Sokoto State Executive Council with immediate effect. The dissolution is aimed at restructuring and re-strategising the cabinet for optimum efficiency and service delivery to the good people of Sokoto State.

    “While thanking members of the Council for the dedication, sacrifice and loyalty to the administration, the governor  expressed appreciation to the people for cooperating with and supporting the outgoing members of the council towards achieving the successes recorded. The commissioners would hand over the affairs of their respective ministries to the Permanent Secretaries.”

    But sources within the party claimed the dissolution is aimed at easing out Wammako’s men from the government as Tambuwal prepares to dump the APC for the PDP in the coming weeks. “The dissolution is just the first step in a number of moves that will end with the defection of the governor and his men to the PDP. Even the leadership of the party will go with them.

    “Or why do you think he ensured the emergence of this aide as the chairman of the party in the state? Leaders of the party are very much aware of what is going on and we are working round the clock to prepare ourselves for the inevitable. But one thing you can all see is that we made more than enough sacrifice to prevail on the governor not to leave the party,” our source, a former Commissioner in the state, said.

    However, the new Publicity Secretary of the party, Honourable Yusuf Ilaris, said there is nothing in the story that claims the governor and his predecessor are at war. According to him, the APC in the state is united and stronger. He accused mischief makers of trying to create crisis for the ruling party at all cost so as to satisfy some pre-planned evil intentions.

    Ilaris added Tambuwal and Senator Wamakko,  leaders of the party in the state, were not only united but working tirelessly for the success of the party in the coming elections at all levels. He insisted that with the leaders united and the party more popular in the state than ever before, Tambuwal will easily win reelection in 2019 on the platform of the party.

    Before the national convention, Wamakko had also cautioned those who he said are ceaselessly trying to sow seeds of discord between him and his successor. “Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and I are one and the same, contrary to the machinations of some doubting Thomases. The respect my younger brother, the governor is according me is unparalleled. I am truly and sincerely very grateful to him for this and I am highly cherishing his enviable gestures,” he said back then.

    But observers of the politics of the state say it is not clear if Wammako will say the same of his relationship with the Sokoto governor today. Many are even recalling a recent statement credited to the former governor that he will not be dumping the APC like some other nPDP chieftains to mean that he has parted ways with Tambuwal, who, up till this moment, is yet to denounce the defection plot. The question for now is still, “what will Tambuwal do?

  • R-APC: Our party shedding its rotten part – Adiukwu

    Frontline female politician and former governorship candidate in Lagos State, Chief Remi Adiukwu, in this interview with Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, urges Nigerians to ignore what she described as the antics of Buba Galadima and other chieftains of the R-APC, saying the group cannot succeed in their attempt to cripple the ruling All progressives Congress (APC)

    wITH the emergence of the R-APC, will u agree that your, the APC is now factionalised?

    The APC is not factionalised. I do not wish to see it as such. I’d rather see APC as an onion shedding off its outer, rotten cover leaving its new and healthy inner self exposed to the world. That to me is what is happening. I don’t need to tell you which between R-APC and the real APC is the rotten part. Sometimes, it is good when injuries happen and some rotten part of the flesh is shed to allow for freshness.

    W e are Nigerians and we have passed this road before. We understand why some people may want to force crisis on a party where there is no crisis simply because they want to do what is in their mind. It is understandable and common in politics. What is not good is the attempt to blackmail others in order to achieve a predetermined intention. That is bad. APC is not in any way fictionalized. It is merely shedding its bad parts.

    What do you think is the real motive of those who formed the R-APC?

    You really want to know their motive? As if you don’t know what I know. Okay. I will tell you. I wish to reiterate what I had said earlier somewhere. Not everyone would be like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In the past three years or so, Asiwaju had not been in the ‘kitchen cabinet” of Mr. President. But when he was called upon to take responsibility for the party’s sake, he did it without complaint.

    Who didn’t know Asiwaju’s contributions in 2015 to the success story of APC? Would you say e has been fairly treated up till nowThese people’s motive is fueled by anger. They are angry and aggrieved because they believe their stomach infrastructures have not been well oiled. Should that be the reason for progressive politicians to jump ship or cause friction within their party? I leave you to answer that.

    But you also dumped the PDP to join the APC. What was your own motive?

    You cannot compare how I left PDP for APC to the drama these people are doing. Don’t also forget I have always been a part of the Asiwaju political family that birthed APC. I changed parties largely on principle and you can verify that. My sojourn away from the party was based on principle just as my return today is encouraged by the same principle of supporting only good things that will be beneficial to Lagos.

    Simply put, my defection was motivated by the sterling performance of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and the foundation of the ruling party, especially in Lagos state. Like I said before, I am back in the party. And when I say I am back, I am actively back. I am enlightened now. All hands must be on deck to help the APC, President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu in this task of saving Nigeria.

    Don’t you think the APC will be badly affected by this development, especially as it prepares for 2019 elections.?

    I am not God neither am I a soothsayer, but i know Nigerians are quick to recognize them when they see an assemblage of those who plundered our economic fortune; those who have turned Nigerians to 2nd class citizens in their fatherland. So, I don’t see Nigerians listening to the cries of people who should ordinary be in hiding for the many atrocities they have committed.

    Awon t’o pe ole ko wa ja, won tun pe oloko ko wa mu ole. ( Those who call in the thief to come and steal, then call the farmer to come and catch the thief). Nigerians know them. Nigerians also know those who have dedicated themselves to the service of this country. It is a choice for the people to make and I am certain the people know the leaders who have been faithful in serving Nigeria.

    Some people are comparing the R-APC to the nPDP of 2014. do you agree the two are similar?

    nPDP or R-APC, is there any difference in these people except for some addition and subtraction here and there in the membership? Same people, same motive. But if we are talking about 2015 and 2019, then there is a whole lot of difference. In this present dispensation, you are dealing with a President with a strong personality and a people with better understanding. Most Nigerians are not as politically myopic as these people think.

    Do you think APC will survive these many crises and the coming of the new coalition?

    APC will definitely overcome all these rabble rousing. I don’t see it as crises. Where is the crisis? I think the crisis is in R-APC, a new group that wants to be a party. It has nothing to do with APC in my opinion. And talking about the coalition, CUPP indeed! The ink with which the MOU was signed was still wet when 20 out of their 31 briefcase parties pulled out. History has not been kind to coalitions devoid of any meaningful ideology. It can not succeed.

    Can APC win the 2019 polls?

    Of course. APC will win the 2019 elections. People talk about an ugly development because some people are threatening what they cannot do. What is the ugly incident Dare? People who have freedom of association, moving to where they please? Politics is dynamic and nobody can stop a determined man. APC has moved on. The leadership has refused to start taking panadol for other people’s headache.

  • R-APC and allied ballistics

    The Nation back-page columnist, Sam Omatseye, yesterday went ballistic on adjectives and allied writers’ problems, using rAPC, as sweet case study.

    Those who coined rAPC say it is Reformed All Progressives Congress (rAPC), claiming they outed with their buzz group, which they were convinced would make quite a buzz, if not in reality, then in the sensation–popping media, with its ever combative mindset, in days of declining copy sales.

    But the other side seems clearly unimpressed, dismissing the so-called rAPC as the usual political merchants, whose billion dollar merchandise is in people’s excitability and gullibility, whose mirage market spikes at the turn of every election, where the merrily scammed are never in short supply.

    That has led to another rash of bathetic r-induced poetry: rogue, risible, ridiculous, retarded, recalcitrant, reactionary-APC, enough proof, the other side triumphantly roar, the self-named “reformers” were no more than the acute deforms in the federal ruling party!

    But as all this excitement goes on, the master-jabber of the public space, Himself the Noisy Royal, Ajeku(n) Iya, has weighed in with his latest video release, as always hot, fresh and exceedingly spicy, needing so much in quaffed lubrication, to put off the wild fire on the tongue!

    Jabbering, yammering and completely delirious, Ajeku(n) dinned — was that a song? — about how he, an umpteenth prodigal, had wandered so far away from home, and how he now begged to be taken back, like the Biblical son.  What isn’t clear now is how the prodigal’s “father”, in Nigeria’s earthly politics, would take his request.

    Not to be outdone, another has released another hit in audio.  In that monster hit, Himself the Holy Shehu, also crooned about how his r-band are leaving Egypt, and are approaching the Red Sea.  Again, it’s not clear, as in the Biblical equivalent of Holy Shehu’s parallel, who is set to part the Red Sea for their passage.

    What if the sea remains un-parted?  And the r-band are determined to cross, with their r — for rogue — past driving them to perdition?  What then?  Then democratic suicide would appear not only gripping but also magical!

    But what if the r is “right” — as in right-APC?  Perhaps they’d surf the growling waves in red triumph, erecting their newfound hegemony, right from the angry but impotent waves!

    It’s high season of equal opportunity risk, bordering on malady!

    Still, all this excitement crawls from one sobering fact: the serious crisis in Nigeria’s party system.  Now, if you don’t have parties worth their names, how can you anchor a robust and strong democracy?

    r-APC might be a faction of nPDP of the 2015 electioneering season.  Many would even push to say the band is no more than the soulless greedy and selfish folks, who never disbanded in their new party, after leaving PDP, and are incapable of shame to go back to same PDP, so long that they have high hopes their greed would be sated!  Still, whoever sates any greed?

    Still, it’s the sober pointer.  Nigeria’s political party system needs urgent fixing.  If all these drama lead to a fixing, then something good would have come of the malady.

  • R-APC: PDP summons Atiku, Makarfi, others

    Governors, senators to discuss Imoke Panel’s report

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman  Uche Secondus has invited  presidential aspirants, governors, senators and other leaders to a meeting today in Abuja. The meeting is coming amid plans by leaders of the Reformed-All Progressives Congress(R-APC) to defect to the PDP.

    The presidential aspirants  invited are:  ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Governor Ahmed Makarfi; ex-Minister of Special Duties Tanimu Kabiru Turaki(SAN); ex-Governors Sule Lamido and Ibrahim Shekarau, as well as others.

    The session will discuss terms for accepting R-APC leaders, such as Senate President Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara and others into the party.

    Top on the agenda is the report of the ex-Governor Liyel Imoke Contact and Mobilisation Committee, which has been negotiating with R-APC and about 30 “minor” parties.

    Ahead of today’s meeting, tension is building up in the PDP over alleged plot by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose to “influence” defection terms in favour of Saraki, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, who are interested in the presidential ticket.

    Wike is accused of hatching a script for Tambuwal as the anointed candidate.

    Some governors and leaders of the party, including those on the Board of Trustees (BOT) are opposed to a “work-to-the-answer” method for any aspirant.

    PDP leaders from the North have also queried why the two Southern governors will dictate to the North the choice of a presidential candidate.

    The Northern leaders may meet next week depending on the decision of today’s talks.

    The notice of the meeting was conveyed to the critical stakeholders by National Secretary Umaru Tsauri.

    The notice reads: “The National Chairman of our great party, the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, hereby invites all PDP presidential aspirants, all PDP governors and former governors, PDP members of the National Assembly and former members, all members of the BOT, members of PDP former ministers forum and all state chairmen to a crucial meeting on Monday, 9th July, 2018 at Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.”

    Although the notice was silent on the agenda, a source in the National Working Committee (NWC) said the “meeting will discuss the proposed defection of R-APC leaders and other bigwigs to PDP; alliance talks from other parties and the way forward for PDP in 2019.

    “We will specifically look into the report and recommendations of ex-Governor Liyel Imoke Contact and Mobilisation Committee which had been holding talks with likely defectors and our leaders in some affected states.

    “Certainly, we will also consider the offers from Saraki, Tambuwal, Kwankwaso and others who are interested in returning to PDP with a desire to contest for the presidential ticket.

    “Do not forget that there are some knotty issues in the report which have not been clearly defined. This is what is delaying the expected mass defection to PDP.”

    The source added: “The outcome of our meeting on Monday (today) will determine how our party structure will now look like; the limits we can accommodate for the defectors and whatever R-APC and others have in stock.”

    The Nation on Saturday reported that the R-APC leaders have made tough demands PDP. There are four knotty issues yet to be settled.

    The four pegs of negotiation are:

    • conceding state party structure to R-APC on 60 to 40 per cent basis or 40-60 per cent ratio;
    • automatic ticket to re-contest for elective posts by Senators, Representatives, House of Assembly members;
    • a change of name by PDP;
    • and governorship tickets for some R-APC aspirants in states like Kaduna, Kwara, Kogi, Bauchi, Sokoto, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, and Borno states.

    A BOT member said: “We are aware that Wike favours Tambuwal and Fayose is insisting he must play a major role on who gets the presidential mandate of the party. We won’t allow anyone to dictate to us.

    “Some of us from the North cannot understand why the two Southern governors are interested in the choice of a presidential candidate from our region than Northerners themselves.

    “If they allow democracy to prevail at today’s meeting, we will abide by the will of the majority. Otherwise, we will convene a meeting of Northern PDP leaders next week.”

    “This meeting is an acid test for Secondus. He should place the interest of the party above any other consideration.”

    A PDP governor, who spoke in confidence, said: “Some of our colleagues are behaving as if they have the presidential ticket of PDP in their pockets; we have had enough of this nonsense.

    “We will be frank with ourselves at the meeting. The Liyel Imoke Committee only recommended a level-playing field for all. No anointing, no adoption and no emperor style of bullying stakeholders into submission on any candidate. Those defectors must play by our rules and nothing else.”

  • Split in R-APC as Saraki moves to join presidential race

    •May lock horns with Tambuwal, Kwankwaso, Atiku, Makarfi, others for PDP ticket
    •Opposition party leaders want ticket for old members, not defectors
    •What Saraki, Atiku discussed in Middle East
    •Obasanjo to back consensus candidate even if Atiku emerges

    Senate President Bukola Saraki is warming up to join the race for the Presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in August, according to sources in his camp.

    Hints about his presidential ambition emerged yesterday; just 24 hours after the Supreme Court cleared him of allegations of impropriety in his declaration of assets form by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).

    The news immediately threw the camps of Governor Aminu Tambuwal and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, who are co-drivers of the R-APC with Saraki, into confusion.

    Tambuwal and Kwankwaso are also interested in the PDP presidential ticket and sources said it was their primary reason for wanting to return to the party having found out that they could not wrestle the ticket from President Buhari in the APC.

    Saraki, who is  said to be under pressure from his supporters to vie for the ticket, has been consulting his associates, political strategists, and well-wishers in the last 24 hours.

    If he consents to seek the ticket, the move is bound to alter the Reformed-All Progressives Congress(R-APC) permutations ahead of next year’s elections.

    The birth of the R-APC was announced last Wednesday by some top members of the APC who claimed the party has failed to live up to expectation.

    Saraki travelled to Port Harcourt, Rivers State yesterday to commission some projects executed by Governor Nyesom Wike.

    The Rivers State Governor is the arrowhead of PDP’s plan to stage a comeback next year.

    The governor is credited with sponsoring the election of Prince Uche Secondus as the national chairman of the PDP.

    But it could not be ascertained last night if Saraki’s unfolding   game-plan informed his Port Harcourt trip yesterday.

    The camp of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is also said to have been taken aback by Saraki’s sudden interest in the presidential race.

    A source knowledgeable about the relationship between  Atiku and Saraki yesterday rated the Senate President’s latest move as  an “upset and contrary to the discussion by the two leaders in a country in the Middle East.”

    The source said “what was agreed upon by Saraki, Atiku and other contestants was that whoever secured the presidential ticket would be supported by all.”

    But the source said Saraki “did not give any commitment to back Atiku only for the presidency.”

    Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the Supreme Court verdict on Saraki played a big role in changing the permutations in the R-APC and the PDP.

    Rules out continued membership of APC, support for Buhari’s re-election

    Saraki, it was gathered, has ruled out remaining in APC or backing Buhari for re-election, declining persuasion by a top presidency official that he should remain in the APC.

    The Senate President felt he will “not be able to have moral and emotional stamina to campaign for Buhari in view of his humiliation at the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the police on Offa robbery.”

    His political family and APC supporters in Kwara State are also said to be opposed to mounting the podium for Buhari in 2018/2019 electioneering.

    Investigation also showed that  Friday’s ruling of the  Supreme Court  which cleared him of any corruption stigma was the ‘joker’ Saraki  needed to rescue his political career.

    “Since the pronouncement of the Supreme Court, the Senate President has become morally emboldened to rev up his presidential ambition. He has started consultations in the last 24 hours,” a source said yesterday.

    “So far, the preliminary round of consultations indicate that he might participate in the presidential primaries of the PDP with some R-APC aspirants like Tambuwal and Kwankwaso.

    “Initial field report and extensive survey have buoyed his confidence of winning the slot.

    “With this development, Saraki will slug it out in PDP with Atiku, ex-Governor Ahmed Makarfi; ex-Minister Tanimu Turaki; ex-Governor Ibrahim Shekarau; ex-Governor Sule Lamido and others.

    “Already, Saraki is done with APC going by the formation of R-APC and the defection of some of his backers and political like-minds to PDP.”

    Asked why Saraki cannot stay in APC to challenge Buhari for the presidential ticket, the source added: “he believes he did not deserve the humiliation he went through at the tribunal and in the hands of the police.

    “What finally made the Senate President to forsake APC was his being linked with those behind the bank robbery and killings in Offa by the Police.

    “I think the police pronouncement did more damage and it was that day he drew the line with APC.

    “Also, his family, relations and political supporters in Kwara State don’t want to hear anything about APC. The trauma was too much for them.”

    Tension in R-APC camp

    Assessing the situation in R-APC on the strength of Saraki’s plan to join the race for PDP presidential ticket, an informed source said: “there is tension everywhere now within our ranks.

    “From the look of things, having three R-APC leaders seeking the PDP presidential ticket is like a house divided against itself.

    “The coming of Saraki will certainly whittle down the prospect of Tambuwal and Kwankwaso because our calculations will change. And do not forget that these three leaders will still have to confront other presidential hopefuls who are in PDP.

    “The race may look open but the path is laced with landmines if R-APC members have to split their votes at the presidential primaries of PDP. It would have been better if Saraki stuck to the negotiated offer of Senate Presidency in 2019.

    “You can see that the R-APC innovation may not last more than two months because the leaders may fall apart over presidential ticket.”

    Asked if Saraki will not be betraying a mutual understanding between him and Atiku in a Middle East country recently, the source said: “there was no pact. What was agreed upon by Saraki, Atiku and other contestants was that whoever secured the presidential ticket will be supported by all.”

    PDP leaders root for ‘old’ party members in presidential ticket race

    Party sources also said that some PDP leaders are opposed to ceding the party’s presidential slot to defectors from APC.

    “We won’t allow them to come back and take over our house. Many of us believe that the R-APC leaders are looking for a refuge camp in PDP and they should not be dictating to us from a position of weakness,” a PDP BoT member told The Nation.

    “If we decide not to readmit them into PDP, they will be politically stranded.

    “It will be a disaster handing over our presidential mandate to any of the defecting leaders. We want the ticket for any of our old and consistent members who are in the race like Ahmed Makarfi, Tanimu Turaki, Ibrahim Shekarau, Sule Lamido, and to some extent, Atiku Abubakar.

    “These R-APC leaders should know their limit. You don’t run into a house cap-in-hand and seize it from the landlord.”

    It was gathered that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo has been persuaded to support any consensus candidate picked by PDP and other 30 parties it might form an alliance with.

    A member of the NWC said: “We have begged Baba to forgive and forget in supporting any common candidate agreed upon by PDP and other coalition parties.

    “We made this request having in mind whether the candidate will be Atiku or not. He has left the option open with a target that the APC must be shown the way out of power in 2019.

    “Baba is only after a credible choice that can match Buhari. He is no longer fixated on any candidate.”

     

  • nPDP, R-APC: forward to the past

    WHEN the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faced revolt in its ranks before the 2015 general election, the Goodluck Jonathan presidency oscillated between coaxing the rebels into conformity or deploying strong-arm tactics to crush them. In the end, after coaxing and crushing half-heartedly, and torn between bowing to an unsettling form of democracy or embracing the less demanding return to autocracy, the former president and PDP leaders left the rebels alone, abandoned the stalemated fight, and turned their gazes towards the more promising strategy of buying up the electorate and, if that failed, engaging them in verbal warfare. Less than a year to the 2019 elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC),a beneficiary of the acrimonious war that sundered the former ruling party, is similarly embroiled in a fierce political combat to determine which way the country should go next year.

    Despite the lack of discipline among its ranks and the corruption that pervaded its leadership, the PDP had a better understanding of democracy than the APC. That makes the APC more dangerous and unscrupulous. Therefore, faced with rebellion in its ranks, particularly among its leaders, the APC government of President Muhammadu Buhari is in the process of determining how to deal with the rebels threatening to scuttle the party’s hold on power, rebels who come under the name of Reformed APC or R-APC. The APC can choose to deploy strong-arm tactics, as seems natural to it; or it can meet the rebellion with the pusillanimity entrenched in PDP’s genes. If history is any guide, the APC is institutionally and idiosyncratically more inclined to crushing than appeasing, and more eager to justify the subsumption of democratic values under its ephemeral and sometimes controversial ethical campaigns.

    The rebels that undid the PDP banded themselves together under the new PDP (nPDP) label, an agglomeration of hotheads, placid souls and confident schemers, some of them governors, and others legislators. They timed their defections fairly expertly, and carried them out incrementally. It is not clear whether the timing and spacing of the defections were planned, and the effects of their injurious disengagement anticipated. But in the end, the PDP was never able to recover from the bleeding occasioned by the nPDP, nor were they able to summon the wits needed to sail through the electoral storm the furious movements before the 2015 elections stirred up. The nPDP, give or take a few subtractions and additions, is essentially the same as the R-APC. Its leaders justifiably complained that they were never really integrated into the APC. And much worse is the fact that they felt they were never really wanted as a coequal entity.

    The alienation of the nPDP was complete when the president, who is himself incapable of showing warmth and running an inclusive organisation, turned his back on the leaders of the breakaway PDP. It was in the president’s power to bring all legacy parties of the APC together under one umbrella, project democratic values, and espouse human feelings. By choosing to rigidly implement his own worldview in place of the consensus needed to bind the APC legacy parties together, it was clear that such political awkwardness was bound to end in one form of explosion or the other. That explosion was predicted to come before or during the party’s convention last month. It didn’t, not because the president took extraordinary steps to remedy the factionalism within the party, but because some party leaders summoned superhuman efforts to paper over the gaping cracks in the party.

    At last, however, the cracks have widened to a point that the schisms within the party can no longer be hidden or glossed over. The leaders of the nPDP are also the leaders of the R-APC. They include Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara, both of whom are still shuffling their feet in the ruling party until they sense the moment clement enough to bare their fangs and play their joker. The hawks in the APC also appear to be ready for the upstarts, determined to play hardball and deploy state power to either ruffle their feathers or completely unhorse them. But no matter how viciously the APC deals its cards, they are unlikely to stave off the open revolt certain to cause tremors in the party in the coming months on a scale that may trigger deep and foreboding anxieties. The problem was avoidable; it is now inescapable. The party will now have to fight the enemies within and without, unsure whether it would not shoot itself in the foot or be injured by friendly fire, and unsure still how the whole imbroglio would be resolved. The APC will have to find ways of calibrating its fiery measures in order to avoid deploying disproportionate force, and it will not be able to tell until perhaps too late whether those measures have not become counterproductive.

    The R-APC leaders who announced their open split from the ruling party last week insist all they care about is reforming the party. No one believes them. If they could not cajole the party into any kind of reform when they wielded a strong hand within the party, it is inconceivable that they could propose and promote even the smallest of reforms when both fate and the APC leaders have dealt them a cruel and remorseless hand. What is, however, clear is that no matter how harshly the Buhari presidency tries to deal with the rebels, the calibre of fighters and brawlers leading them, not to say their swelling ranks, indicates they possess a strong chin and firm knees strong enough to absorb APC’s brutal blows. More, now, it is also clear that the party will go into the next elections divided, depleted, weakened and incapable of presenting even the imprecise ideological front with which it bamboozled the electorate in 2015 and confused and unnerved the then ruling party.

    The split is virtually complete and irreconcilable now. Neither President Buhari nor APC leaders are minded to seek a rapprochement with the angry and aggrieved R-APC leaders, including those yet to come out of the closet. In fact, it seems the ruling party and the president want to be rid of the rebels, in order, as they elegantly framed it, to get a grip on their party and focus on the business at hand. The new party chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, is a conciliator, though his glibness sometimes compounds the problem confronting him and his party. Left to him, he will bend over backwards to reach an accommodation with the rebels, concede positions and policies to them as much as he can, and sustain a friendliness with them that is both practicable and enriching. But everything is not left to Mr Oshiomhole, for the problem that gnaws at the party is at bottom not really his making. He will, therefore, need to frequently have recourse to the president whose penchant for blaming others is as legendary as his sanctimoniousness.

    The split in the APC may be complete, but splits well managed do not significantly undermine the growth of democracy in Nigeria. Indeed, the split, not to say the constant frictions between politicians and their parties, often conduces to the solidification of democracy. There are still too many defections, amorphous ideological positions, strange cohabitations, the election and appointment of incompetent party leaders, and oversimplification of party processes and politcking itself. Undoubtedly, these problems need some shaking and shuffling and refining to form recognisable political shapes. The constant defections may appear like political prostitution, and internal rebellions may sometimes be painted as indispensable to the eviction of flotsam and jetsam, or even to the weeding of the so-called corrupt politicians fighting back, but in the end it should engender the political distillation needed to fine-tune the practice of democracy in Nigeria.

    No one doubts that APC leaders have made up their minds to be rid of R-APC. The rebels are also apparently resolute in seeking succour and refuge elsewhere. The dividing lines are ossifying, unfortunately not along ideological or even policy lines, but along the putrefying lines of partisan animosities. No one, not even the president and his hawks, knows how the rebellion will end, both for the ruling party and for Nigerian democracy. The APC were themselves rebels in 2014 when they rose to challenge the dominance of the PDP and won. In the next few months, it will be clear whether history will repeat itself, whether the R-APC will be able to harness the disaffection they claim to perceive to engineer the defeat of the ruling party.

  • 2019: PDP, R-APC yet to agree on four knotty issues

    Ahead of their defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC), leaders of Reformed All Progressives Congress(R-APC) have tabled tough demands before the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    While some of the demands have been accepted, there are four other knotty issues yet to be settled.

    The four pegs of negotiation are: conceding party structures in states to R-APC on 60 to 40 per cent basis; automatic ticket; change of PDP’s name and governorship ticket in some states.

    It was learnt that members of the Board of Trustees of PDP, the National Executive Committee and National Working Committee (NWC) are opposed to the idea that the party should change its name.

    State chairmen of the party were also opposed to conceding 60 per cent of the officials of ward, local government and state executive committees (SEC) of PDP to R-APC.

    The PDP, however, accepted the recommendation to cede the Office of the President of the Senate to Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House or senatorial ticket to Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara if they make up their minds to defect.

    Investigation by our correspondent revealed that ex-Governor Liyel Imoke Contact and Mobilization Committee has briefed the National Working Committee (NWC) on talks with R-APC leadership and others willing to defect to PDP.

    It was learnt that although the NWC has received insights on substantial part of the report of the Imoke Committee, a formal submission was being awaited.

    A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “All is set to welcome R-APC leaders, members and other political leaders into PDP before the beginning of primaries into elective offices as from August 18.

    “The Liyel Imoke Committee has done fantastic work and we are all excited about the prospect of a revitalised and stronger PDP.

    “With most issues resolved in favour of R-APC and other defectors, the only four pegs of negotiation left are about conceding state party structure to R-APC on 60 to 40 per cent basis; automatic ticket; a change of name by PDP; and governorship ticket in some states.

    “The committee recommended that 60 per cent of party structure at the ward, local government and state level should be given to R-APC while 40 per cent is left for old members.”

    The source said the committee took into account the electoral value of the defecting R-APC leaders and the need to integrate the defectors into the PDP structure. But he said that state chairmen are opposed to the 60-40 per cent ratio.

    “They said if the PDP leadership was serious, it should also allow a 60-40 per cent formula at the NWC level. This means that some National Working Committee members would have to sacrifice their mandate. We are managing it with maturity but state chairmen have not been convinced.

    “Some party leaders and state chairmen are claiming that ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar did not re-join the party with terms. They are claiming that the R-APC leaders are demanding too much,” he said.

    On the question of automatic ticket, the source said: “All our leaders have accepted to concede only the Office of the President of the Senate to Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives or a senatorial ticket to Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara if they make up their minds to defect.

    “As for other aspirants for elective offices, they are to contest with other candidates based on local peculiarities, including the popularity of the defectors, power rotation formula, and the mood of the electorate.

    “For example, some PDP leaders are pushing for automatic ticket for Senator Dino Melaye, but some parts of Kogi West Senatorial District said the Ijumu-Gbede axis will be holding on to the seat for 16 years if Melaye gets the slot. Senator Smart Adeyemi (from Iyara Ijumu) was the occupant of the seat for eight years.

    “There is, however, a strong case for Senator Melaye. The party may persuade the aggrieved parts of the senatorial district to concede it to Melaye.

    “The R-APC leaders are however seeking automatic tickets for all defectors.”

    The source also said the automatic ticket matter could also affect the choice of governorship candidates in some states.

    “For example, PDP leaders in Kwara State said they will prefer to produce the party’s gubernatorial candidate instead of the returning R-APC.

    “The old PDP members in Bauchi, Sokoto, Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Yobe, Borno and other states are seeking governorship ticket in exchange for the acceptance of other conditions by R-APC.”

    On the change of name, the highly-placed source added: “The BOT, NEC and NWC leaders have rejected the request to rename PDP because it will affect the structure of the party and time is not on our side in an election year.

    “We have to write the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and go through a process which may be challenging.”

    At press time, the official presentation of the report of Liyel Imoke Committee was being awaited.