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Tag: Senator Buruji Kashamu

  • Ijebu monarchs: Kashamu is our beloved son

    Traditional rulers in Ijebu land have described the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Senator Buruji Kashamu, as a beloved son of Ijebu land.

    Two monarchs – the Lamodi of Ijebu-Isiwo, His Royal Highness, Oba Sikiru Adedoyin and the Aladeken of Oke-Ako in Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area, His Royal Highness, Oba Joshua Osunsami (J.P) – spoke when Kashamu visited them at their palaces.

    They hailed the senator for his foresight to put key policies and programmes in an undertaking, which he has been giving to traditional rulers across the state.

    Read also: Ogun PDP candidate Kashamu to fix Ota roads, others

    In the undertaking, which he elaborated on, Kashamu promised to allow local governments to enjoy full financial autonomy without deducting from their monthly allocations.

    This, he said, would engender grassroots developments.

    The senator also committed himself to addressing the issues of cooperative deductions and contributory pensions without a view to allowing the will of the workers to prevail.

    The PDP candidate also said Micro Small Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMSEs) would be encouraged to thrive through the facilitation of microfinance and community banks that would advance revolving facilities to entrepreneurs at zero interest rate.

  • Ogun PDP candidate Kashamu to fix Ota roads, others

    The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Senator Buruji Kashamu, has promised to fix the roads and other infrastructure in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area and its environs.

    Kashamu made the promise yesterday when he visited the Olota-in-Council, the Council of Baales and Chiefs, the League of Imams and Alfas, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Hausa community, the Igbo community, the traditionalists, artisans and market men and women in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area.

    The Olota of Ota, His Royal Majesty, Oba (Prof.) Adeyemi Abdulkabir Obalanlege (Ekun II), led other traditional rulers in Awori land to receive the governorship candidate.

    At the various fora, Kashamu said the welfare of the people would be his priority, if elected.

    “I am committed to completing all the uncompleted and ongoing projects in Ogun West Senatorial District and other parts of the state. Our government will be tax-friendly and encourage more businesses to thrive.

    “I reckon that our people are in need of basic infrastructure, such as potable water, good and motorable roads in most parts of the state. All of these and many more will be done, if you vote the PDP on February 23 and March 9,” Kashamu said.

    The senator highlighted some of his policies, if elected, saying: “One, I commit to releasing all allocations due to local governments; I will not deduct from their allocations. This is to ensure grassroots development and allow the traditional institution to be involved in local government administration.

    “Two, I also commit to remitting all statutory deductions from workers’ salaries to the relevant unions and authorities as and when due.”

    To address poverty and stomach infrastructure, Kashamu said: “Substantial funds shall be set aside to assist the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Loans from the funds shall attract no interest.”

     

     

  • Ogun PDP governorship crisis: Appeal Court delivers verdict today in Adebutu/Kashamu suit

    Senator Buruji Kashamu and Oladipupo Adebutu will today know their fate over their claims to the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State.

    The Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, will deliver its judgment on the matter today.

    Justice Abubakar Shittu of a Federal High Court in Ogun State, in October, directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept a list of candidates from the Adebayo Dayo-led faction of the party.

    The faction is loyal to Kashamu, the senator representing Ogun East District and the governorship candidate of the faction.

    The judgment came after Adebutu had been named the governorship candidate of the party.

    Rather than surrender, the PDP, through its counsel, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), approached the appellate court in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    The party sought an order to set aside the judgment on the ground of non-service on the PDP, the process upon which the orders were based, lack of fair hearing, Supreme Court judgment on PDP leadership tussle, among others.

    The situation leaves the two politicians claiming to be the authentic candidates of the party while awaiting the decision of the appellate court.

    At the hearing of the appeal yesterday before a three-man panel, Etiaba argued that the PDP was not served the processes upon which the orders were predicated and was consequently not given fair hearing in the matter brought before Justice Shittu by the Dayo-led faction.

    On the leadership tussle in the party, Etiaba argued that the Supreme Court had laid the issue to rest.

    The issue of bias against Justice Shittu included in the brief of appeal by the appellants’ counsel as one of the grounds of appeal, resulting from the lack of fair hearing ground, was later withdrawn by Etiaba on the advice of one of the three judges who heard the appeal.

    Counsel to Dayo, Dr Alex Izinyon (SAN), prayed the appellate court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit.

    He argued that the court bailiff approached the office of the PDP National Secretary from where he was directed to the Legal Department of the party for service of the court processes.

    Izinyon said the bailiff, as stated in his affidavit filed before the court, met some lawyers at the Legal Department who refused to accept service of the processes, claiming there was a holiday.

    But the PDP lawyer counter-argued that the law is that an officer of the party not lower than a Secretary must be served such processes.

    Izinyon said the argument should have been filed in an affidavit to controvert the bailiff’s claim.

    After listening to both counsel, the presiding judge, Justice J. A. Bada, asked the parties to address the court on whether the matter was a pre-election case or not, based on the provisions of Section 285, Subsection 14 a-c of the Fourth Alteration to the 1999 Constitution.

    Etiaba said it was not a pre-election matter as it did not fall within the category of cases classified as such.

    But Izinyon said it was a pre-election matter and so remained statute-barred.

    The lawyer urged the court to strike out certain paragraphs in the appellants’ brief.

    Justice Bada fixed 3 p.m. today for judgment on the matter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The victims rushed to court for protection.

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

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

    “The judgement, in suit no: FCT/HC/0303/2017, delivered today, Dec. 13, 2018 affirmed the powers of the PDP, as provided in her constitution, to discipline and punish any member who contravenes any of the provisions of its constitution.

    “By this judgment, it is clear that Kashamu is not a member of the PDP, and cannot, under any circumstance whatsoever, claim to be the governorship candidate of the party in Ogun, moreso, when he never participated in any of its nomination processes.’’

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

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

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

  • PDP presents Ogun governorship flag to Adebutu

    The national leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Friday in Abuja presented Mr. Ladi Adebutu with the symbolic party flag, to enable him contest the Ogun State governorship election on the platform of the PDP.

    The party leadership also presented similar flags to Mr. Jimi Agbaje to fly the PDP governorship flag in Lagos State, while Mr. Seyi Makinde was also presented with the flag for the Oyo State governorship contest.

    While presenting the flags to the candidates, the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus said the party had submitted Adebutu’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as required by law.

    Secondus declared Adebutu as the party’s authentic governorship candidate for Ogun State.

    Meanwhile, INEC had earlier recognised Senator Buruji Kashamu as the PDP governorship candidate based on the ruling by a Federal High Court.

    The party chairman described the present administration as a government of cabals, saying Nigerians will reject them in 2019, because they don’t even know who their President is.

    “Nigerians are dying in their numbers, yet the emperors of APC will be talking about integrity even more people are hungry. Nigerians will pass their judgment in 2019, you can no longer deceive Nigerians”, the chairman said.

    He restated the call on INEC and the security agencies to be neutral during the 2019 elections, saying Nigerians are wiser now than before.

    Secondus said, “This is a President that does not communicate, he only speaks when he goes outside the country. Nigerians are confused and cannot understand him and yet he said he’s coming back; to do what?

    “You are not talking to Nigerians, you can’t persuade them, you can’t order the security agencies, you can’t order INEC. The president should be bold to call the INEC chairman and security agencies to order”

    He charged President Buhari to participate in the upcoming presidential debate and not to do so by proxy.

  • Kashamu to PDP: don’t present party’s flag through backdoor

    The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Senator Buruji Kashamu, has urged the national leadership to present the flag to him.
    A statement signed by Austin Oniyokor for the Kashamu/Abati Campaign Organisation reads:

    “The attention of the Kashamu/Abati Campaign Organisation has been drawn to the surreptitious moves being made by some lawless members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to present the flag for the Ogun State PDP governorship ticket to an impostor through the backdoor.

    “It should be noted that following the insistence of the genuine national leaders of PDP, such as the Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, among others, to make the Party to abide by valid and subsisting court judgments in respect of the Ogun State PDP matter, the desperate elements within the NWC and their collaborators on Thursday stalled the presentation of the party’s flags to the governorship candidates from Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states at the Ibadan venue of the South-West zonal rally, as it is usually the practice at such rallies.

    “Immediately after the rally, the retrogressive elements within the PDP met at the Ibadan Airport and hatched a fresh plot to present the Party’s flag to the governorship candidates from Lagos and Oyo states in Abuja tomorrow (Friday, 7th December, 2018), including an impostor from Ogun State known as Ladi Adebutu.

    “Although we reckon that the presentation of flag is merely ceremonial and of no consequence whatsoever, we were only hoping that those who criticize others for their actions and inactions will live by higher standards and best global practices where the Rule of Law prevails. The presentation of flag will not reverse the valid and subsisting court judgments and pronouncements in our candidates’ favour – from the High Court to the Supreme Court. It will also not make the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept, process and publish the impostors’ names.

    “Since some elements within the PDP are hell-bent on further denting the image of our Party, the Kashamu/Abati Campaign Organisation wishes to appeal to all well-meaning leaders of our Party, including the Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, to, once again, rise to the occasion and rein in these elements before they wreak more havoc to the Party and set Ogun State on fire.

    “The legitimate candidates of the PDP who have been affirmed by the Courts and accepted by INEC will not fold their hands and allow some persons in Abuja and elsewhere, no matter how powerful, to steal their mandates through the backdoor. Party leaders should learn to obey court judgments instead of resorting to strong-arm tactics that will further portray our party in bad light to Nigerians and the rest of the world.”

  • Fresh crisis in Southwest PDP over Kashamu

    Fresh trouble is looming for the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the southwest zone of the country allegedly over suspected efforts by handlers of the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to curry the favour of embattled Senator Buruji Kashamu and the Bayo Dayo-led state executive committee of the PDP in Ogun State, reports, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan.

    Barely three months to the 2019 general election, and with its poor showing in two governorship elections held in Ekiti and Osun states still affecting its popularity in the zone, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West is faced with a fresh crisis with many of its chieftains threatening to dump the party any moment from now. Although the new disquiet in the opposition party is yet to become a full blown crisis, findings revealed that it is capable of tearing the party apart in the region if not properly managed.

    The Nation gathered that former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, embattled factional governorship candidate of the party in Ogun State, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, and majority of the party’s chieftains who are Board of Trustee members in the zone, may give cold shoulders to both the PDP and its presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, if the situation is not addressed as they desire.

    Findings within the party indicated that an alleged move by the Atiku camp to accommodate embattled Senator Buruji Kashamu and his camp in the PDP, contrary to the position of the National Working Committee (NWC) and most of the party’s leaders in the southwest that he remains expelled from the party, is at the root of the brewing crisis threatening to pitch many PDP leaders in the zone against Atiku.

    “Even the blossoming rapport between Atiku and former President Olusegun Obasanjo may be truncated if those urging the former vice president on to support Kashamu succeeds. Like Obasanjo, many PDP leaders in the southwest don’t want to have anything to do with Kashamu. It is important for Atiku to look beyond the acclaimed popularity of the Senator and consider the effect of forcing him on the PDP at this crucial time,” our source claimed.

    The Nation gathered that following the failure of the national leadership of the PDP to amicably resolve the fictionalisation of the party in Kashamu’s Ogun State and the continuous victory of the Senator and his faction in court despite the insistence of the Prince Uche Secondus-led NWC that the Sikirulai Ogundele-led state executive committee, loyal to Adebutu, is the authentic leadership of the party in the state, may have prompted Atiku’s camp to seek a political solution to the crisis.

    Sources within the camp of the former vice president, while confirming alleged ongoing discussion between the group and Kashamu’s men in Ogun State, said it has become very important for PDP to address the division within the party in Ogun State if it is serious about winning the 2019 general elections. Our source added that the ongoing talks between the two camps are not aimed at rubbishing any of the warring factions in the state.

    It was also gathered that the rapport with Kashamu by Atiku’s men may be without the consent of the national leadership of the party which is still insisting that the Bayo Dayo-led faction of the party in the state is illegal. The Secondus-led NWC of the party is still in court seeking a judgement that will dislodge the faction and enthrone the Sikirulai Ogundele-led state executive committee in its place before the 2019 elections.

    “We are prosecuting a presidential election. Elections are won and lost through votes; Ogun State is one state we need to win if we want to give APC a good fight in the next presidential election. And the state is ours to take if only we can put our house in order. The APC in the state is in disarray and the people have turned to the PDP. But our people there too are not united.

    “The leadership of the party took a decision and we all respected it. But the courts have been saying no to that same decision, given the Kashamu faction the right to call the shots in Ogun PDP instead of the people our NWC supports. The Kashamu they expelled is now the gubernatorial candidate of our party in the state courtesy of the same court judgements we are talking about. Can we continue to look the other way?

    “It is upon considering all these that a group of party elders, with strong commitments to Alhaji Atiku’s aspiration, opened a channel of discussion with the distinguish Senator with a view to finding a way the crisis can be politically resolved. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) window is still open and a lot of concessions can still be made here and there to accommodate everybody. The party leadership, because of the court cases, may no longer be in the best position to do this, but it has to be done,” our source explained.

    Testing the waters?

    Confirming the alleged moves to bring the Kashamu camp into the Atiku train to The Nation on Wednesday, a chieftain of the party in Lagos State, Adeyemi Kola-Daisi, who is also the coordinator of SouthWest Coalition for Atiku (SWCA), said the major interest of the PDP currently is to win the next presidential election. “The party is doing everything possible to liberate Nigerians from the stronghold of Buhari and his people.

    “Senator Kashamu, in spite of his face-off with the party at a time, has shown that he is a loyal party member. He had all the reasons and time to dump the PDP and move his structure into another party. But he stayed and fought his case in the courts. He has won major victories and it is in the interest of the party to consider his usefulness and loyalty especially at a time like this.

    “So, all these talks about people opposing moves to bring him back into the party are not true. Yes, many of us in the Atiku support groups have been going to him and he has been showing readiness to support both the PDP and Atiku. So, it is a good thing talks are ongoing to bring him back home. Those saying Fayose, Adebutu and others will leave should wait and see if they will not open their arms and welcome Kashamu,” he said.

    And in a move many analysts have described as the first step towards the coming realignment within the party, the PDP in Ogun State on Wednesday inaugurated a 42-man committee to be in charge of the campaign organisation of the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in the state. Senator Kashamu was named the chairman of the committee and the party chairman in the state, Bayo Dayo as vice chairman.

    Dayo who addressed party members at the party’s secretariat in Abeokuta, on Wednesday, charged them to work hard in every ward to ensure victory for PDP. He said PDP was set to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state. “The power of incumbency will not work for Amosun again since he’s not contesting. “There is still room for the aggrieved. Those parading themselves as candidates of the party are doing so to promote PDP in Ogun State.”

    The state party chairman did not say whether the committee has the blessing of either the national leadership of the party or the Atiku Campaign Organisation. But reliable party sources claimed the committee is the first fruit of the looming political solution expected to end the fictionalisation of the party in Ogun state, being midwives by prominent supporters of the Atiku presidential aspiration.

    “As I told you earlier, we are making progress. The PDP in Ogun State is obviously the party to beat in 2019 in all the elections, not just the presidential election. All we need to do is put our house in order. And you can see signs that that is being done. The APC in Ogun State, and indeed in many parts of the southwest, is not united. Go to Ondo, Oyo and Ekiti and you will understand what I am saying.

    “With Kashamu heading Atiku’s campaign in Ogun State, you don’t need to be told that he is back in the PDP. What remains now is for all other issues to be resolved, especially the issue of who flies the governorship banner of the PDP in Ogun State. All these will be thrashed out and everybody, including Adebutu and his people, will be happy in the end. No loyal party member will leave the PDP at this stage,” our source said.

    But a chieftain of the PDP in the state and a former ally of the embattled Senator, Chief Kole Ogunjobi, warned the PDP presidential candidate and his supporters against worsening the situation within the party ahead of the 2019 general elections. According to the PDP stalwart, Kashamu’s return to the PDP will chase away numerous other party leaders, not only in Ogun State, but across the southwest.

    “We are daily hearing and seeing things that point to the fact that the Atiku camp feels without Kashamu, PDP cannot win in Ogun State. We have made efforts to warn those thinking like this to desist from harming the party more before the election, but one can only hope common sense will prevail. With Kashamu back in PDP, the party will lose numerous other strong stalwarts in quick succession.

    “This will not happen only in Ogun State, but across the states of the southwest because many of you can still recall what party members and leaders suffered in the hand of Kashamu and his gang before we succeeded in getting him out of the party. He is not a team player. His type of politics is strange and he has a penchant to want to lord it over everyone else. These were the major reasons the party was so troubled for many years,” he said.

    Unending face-off

    The current face-off between Kashamu and the PDP started when INEC formally adopted the list of PDP candidates for Ogun State, submitted to it by the Dayo-led State Executive Committee of the party, which is loyal to Senator Kashamu, stating clearly that its decision to adopt the list is based on the various Federal High Court verdicts on cases between the two factions of the party in the state.

    The commission, in a letter dated October 25, 2018 signed by its acting secretary, Okechukwu Ndeche, and addressed to the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, said it would only recognise the governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly candidates from Kashamu’s camp until the judgements in his favour are set aside by superior courts.

    This is in spite of the fact that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party had earlier expelled Kashamu, Adedayo Dayo and two members of the Ogun State chapter of the party over alleged anti-party activities. But their expulsion was later overturned by the court. Nonetheless, the PDP and the Adebutu faction in the state continued to seek his ouster from the opposition party.

    But in spite of endless efforts to shove him aside in the scheme of thing within the party in his home state of Ogun, Kashamu had continued to have the upper hand. Just last Monday again, the hope of the national leadership that it will get INEC to reverse his decision concerning the list of PDP candidates in Ogun State was dashed as the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, struck out the motion for stay of execution of the orders given in favour of the Dayo-led Ogun State Executive.

    This followed the withdrawal of the appellants’ newly filed motion for stay of execution, among others. The court also awarded a N20,000 cost against the appellants – the PDP, its National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, and Senator Umar Ibrahim Tsauri. Represented by Emeka Etiaba, the appellants withdrew all their previously filed applications which included motions for stay of execution, abridgment of time and amendment of appeal following which the court struck out the said applications having been withdrawn.

    Following the mutual consent of parties’ counsel, the court gave the appellants one day from Monday to file their brief of argument, 14 days for the 1st – 9th respondents to file their brief from the date of service and one day for the appellants to file a reply brief. In their amended and newly filed Notice of Appeal, the appellants’ are asking the court for an order setting aside the orders of the lower court and reassignment of the suit at the Federal High Court, Abeokuta.

    A date for hearing of the appeal will be communicated to parties upon the conclusion of exchange of briefs. It would be recalled that the pro-Ladi Adebutu national leadership of the PDP filed an appeal against the orders of the Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, which directed the PDP and INEC to “accept, process and publish” only the list of candidates that emerged from congresses/primaries endorsed by Dayo-led Exco.

    The suit is an appeal against a judgment enforcement proceedings. The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, had on the 24th of June, 2016 delivered a judgment in favour of the Dayo-led Exco as the only Ogun State PDP structure that is known to law. The judgment is yet to set aside and is no pending appeal against it. The three-man panel of judges of the Court of Appeal included the Hon. Justice H.S. Tsammani, JCA, (Presiding), Hon. Justice N. Okoronkwo, JCA, and Hon. Justice F.A. Ojo, JCA.

  • Expulsion: PDP formally writes INEC, DSS, Police over Kashamu, others

    …As Senator rejects expulsion from party

     

    The National Headquarters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has formally written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Department of State Security Service (DSS) and the Police Command in Ogun State, notifying each of them of the expulsion of Senator Buruji Kashamu and three others from the party.

    Senator Kashamu representing Ogun East Senatorial district at the Senate, factional Chairman of PDP in Ogun State, Engr. Bayo Dayo,  and two others were expelled from the party weeks  ago by the PDP National leadership for alleged anti-party activities but Kashamu and Dayo rejected the expulsion, dismissing it last Thursday as a ruse and illegality that shall not stand.

    Read Also:Kashamu rejects expulsion by PDP leadership

    The Senator and Dayo Bayo insisted that they remained full – ledge member of PDP, saying a subsisting court order protects their membership.

    However, in a letter by the PDP National Legal Adviser, Emmanuel Enoidem, dated August 1 and addressed separately to the trio of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, the State Director of DSS and the Commissioner of Police in the state, the party said the expelled persons have ceased to be members of PDP.

    In the said letter, the party recalled that the National Executive Committee (NEC) at its 80th meeting held on July 23, expelled the quartet of Kashamu, the factional state chairman and secretary, Bayo Dayo and Semiu Sodipo, respectively and Segun Seriki, for “various infractions and violations of express provisions of the constitution of the party 2017 (as amended).”

    “Grateful, we write to bring to your notice and information that on July 23, 2018, the 80th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) expelled Senator Buruji Kashamu, Mr.  Semiu Sodipo, Engr. Bayo Dayo and Segun Seriki, from the party for various infractions and violations of express provisions of the Constitution of the party 2017 (as amended).

    “Accordingly, they have ceased to be members of our party forthwith and lost all rights and or privileges, to act or represent the party in any capacity whatsoever. The extract of the 80th meeting of the NEC is attached for your perusal,” the letter reads.

  • Kashamu holds Mega rally, rejects expulsion by PDP

    … Says he remains full – fledge PDP member

     

     

    Senator Buruji Kashamu on Thursday insisted that he remained a full – fledge member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), saying his alleged expulsion by the Party’s National Leadership cannot stand.

    Kashamu, representing, Ogun East Senatorial District at the Senate  was expelled two weeks ago for alleged anti-party activities but addressing thousands of party supporters at a mega rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital, he assured his cheering supporters a subsisting court order robustly protects his membership of PDP.

    Read Also:PDP expels Kashamu, three others

    The mega rally was organised at the State Secretariat of the party on IBB Boulevard, Oke – Mosan, Abeokuta, as unity gathering where aspirants for various positions in the 2019 elections and placards bearing supporters besieged the venue.

    Kashamu who is a major fianacier of the party since 2011, wondered how a committed member could be expelled, dismissing his alleged expulsion as a ruse and illegality that would not stand.

    “How can somebody expel you when you are committed to the party, the party is not for an individual.

    “I want to state authoritatively that I, Senator Buruji Kashamu remain PDP member up till today.

    Any attempt to expel me will be an effort in futility because, I have an order that protects me from being expelled by anybody,” he said.

    According to him, his battle with the “National leadership of the party is to liberate the masses from the oppressed.”

    Also, the state factional Chairman, Bayo Dayo, who was also expelled by the Party Leadership said a Lagos High Court has recognised his executive as the authentic one and needed not be bothered by action that were in contempt of the court order.

    To him, the Party’s leadership acted illegally hence their decision is null and void. Adding that INEC has recognized us as the authentic PDP in Ogun State and we are dealing directly with INEC.

  • Extradition: Court orders AGF, NDLEA not to take steps against Kashumu

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) not to take any further steps in their alleged renewed plot to extradite Senator Buruji Kashamu to the United States.

    Justice Babatunde Quadri gave the order on Tuesday while ruling on an ex-parte application filed by Kasamu, which was argued by his lawyer, J. O. Odubela (SAN).

    Justice Quadri particularly ordered parties to maintain status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit filed by Kashamu.

    Read Also:Kashamu’s extradition call unjustified, says Olanipekun

    The judge also granted the applicant leave to serve processes in relation to the suit, including the originating summons on NDLEA outside the jurisdiction of the court at 4 Shaw Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    Justice Quadri adjourned to September 24 for the hearing of the substantive suit.

    Details later…