The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Unity Party of Nigeria

  • Afenifere can’t adopt SDP for Southwest – Okuwa, UPN Chairman

    In this interview, Prof Bankole Okuwa, the National Chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), warns the leadership of Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, to be wary of the people behind moves to adopt the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the Southwest geo-political zone in the forthcoming elections, reports Edozie Udeze

    WHAT are the prospects of your party, the UPN, in winning the forthcoming Ogun State governorship election?

    The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) has been working hard. And I, as the National Chairman of the party, I have no doubt in my mind that the Ogun State people are listening and we shall win the governorship election of Ogun State, including the senatorial positions. And we will also go ahead and win the House of Representatives seats and the State House of Assembly seats. And I am not just saying that to fulfill our ambition. I have my reasons. We have been calling on Nigerians, especially the Ogun State people, to think twice. Don’t sell your votes because you are going to put yourself in trouble; if you sell your votes, you sell your rights and then, the future of your children. The PDP in Ogun State is broken beyond repairs. You can’t put it together anymore. And the APC is also broken from the centre. Buhari has so much problems and the SDP which was an affiliated member of the APC, I think, they are withdrawing their support for APC now and they want to start again. It is just too late for them to do anything. If they don’t seem to believe it, but coming elections would tell on them. For instance, in Ijebu Ode or Ijebu area, I can tell you affirmatively, the SDP has no ward anywhere and it is unfortunate.

    There has been alignment and re-alignment of forces between and among political parties. Is UPN also considering this option to align with any of the two major political parties that we have in Nigeria?

    UPN would take a decision on alignment when the issue comes up. I can’t really tell you, even as I am the National Chairman, I can’t tell you straight away that the UPN will take part in it. What bothers UPN right now is that the UPN is not just an ordinary party. This is Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s party; Awo, the greatest politician and the greatest achiever in the Nigerian political development. And everybody knows and we are working on his legacies. We haven’t abandoned anything there. We appreciate the man and we are telling the people about it. We are trying to remind people to remember the good old days that the UPN wants to bring them back to the state and the Yoruba areas. So, when you talk of alignment with the big parties, you want to align with corrupt politicians. The PDP is corrupt from head to toe. I don’t know. If Nigerians are thoughtful and hopeful, if Nigerians want to preserve this country then, PDP is out. They don’t deserve to win any seat anywhere again all over the country. APC is not as bad as PDP but the APC now has even failed, fundamentally. Look at all the killings, herdsmen killings. I have never seen such things.

    Currently, SDP is reaching out to Afenifere, a Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, to build and consolidate its stronghold in Southwest. Don’t you think it will not be an aberration for Afenifere to support SDP, instead of your party which shares the same ideologies with Awolowo’s legacies?

    Well, I know that people are going to analyze it by themselves. But it would be a tragic mistake if Afenifere goes ahead to accept or try to help SDP or to identify with it as a political group, but they can’t do it. The history is there. When SDP tried to ruin itself two weeks ago, their first port of call was IBB who annulled the June 12 Presidential Election in 1993 won by MKO Abiola .

    So, SDP can’t make it.

    Is UPN also reaching out to Afenifere for the same support?

    Of course, yes. We are willing to. We are wishing too. But we don’t want a dispute. We want them to look at our party, the structure and accept. In fact, we are offering them everything. The only thing we have exception for is, they should leave it the way it is. It is our governorship candidate in Ogun State, Otunba Rotimi Paseda, and our National Secretary. So, we are asking them to leave the Ogun State Governorship aspirant and the National Secretary in place, the way it is. But as for me, I am the National Chairman of the party, I am willing to forgo my position in honour of Chief Awolowo and his legacies. Why should I stand in the way? Who am I to stand in the way of what will benefit everybody? No! Those in PDP, they fought themselves and may be, they needed boxing gloves when they were struggling to capture the national chairmanship of their party. The same in APC, it is all over their problem. As far as we are concerned in UPN, people don’t know; it is wrong. In Ogun State, the structure is everywhere; we participated in the 2016 local government election. We did. We were very active. SDP does not have a single elective position in the state. The party did not even partake in the last local government election in Ogun State and it means they have no structure in place. UPN contested and won two seats in the last 2016 Ogun State Local Government election.

    It is alleged that Afenifere has adopted SDP for the 2019 General Elections. Is there any element of truth in this rumour?

    That adoption bid didn’t sail through. I was there, personally. Actually, the Afenifere did not adopt SDP. They, the Afenifere leadership, knew that there is a controversy about it. So, the adoption didn’t carry the day and it was like, they wanted to see how everybody was going to react to it. I was there personally and I reacted negatively to it. What happened? It is not a good idea. One thing that interests me was, ex-Governor Olusegun Mimiko from Ondo State was there. And he said something very reasonable, something acceptable, something very wise. He said that, “his advice would be, that all the parties that can be called or described as Afenifere-inclined political parties should be left alone for now. Let them go for the general elections. If party ‘A’ can win here or party ‘B’ can win there in Yorubaland, fine. After the elections, they can come together and try to re-align because each party would have had enough power or strength. It would not be to push the people to what they don’t want”. How do you want to imagine it? We (UPN) have been in existence since 2013. We ran the last 2015 general elections. In 2016, in the entire Ogun State, we took part in the local government election fully. And our governorship candidate, Otunba Rotimi Paseda, is ready. He has been going here and there. And within the last couple of weeks, our aspirant all came out, from the House of Assembly, senate and to the House of Representatives. How do you do it? Adopt a party that has no structure on ground and ask us to go and queue behind it? Is that the way to do it? I am sure that the Afenifere has seen the problems and it is not good for them to have considered this situation.

    So, I think, that was not a decision as such but it was a controversy and it is good that they started it. I don’t know what they are going to do to this but they have not announced that SDP is going to contest the next election in Ekiti State. And the UPN candidate is already set there. Don’t you think those in SDP ought to have approached me; I, as the National Chairman of the UPN to discuss all these issues? They have not done anything. Did they think we are just wasting our time? I don’t think they are politicians. I just think what they are doing is just a publicity stuff. We are waiting for them in Ekiti State.

    UPN is ready to be the Southwest party, as it is rightly positioned for that. Where else but UPN should the rightful home of any Awoist to be, if not in Awolowo party itself? Or, how else does one identify with it and promote the late sage work if not in the late sage party with the exact same manifestos adopted by Awolowo himself? They should think about it.

  • Youth groups yearn for good governance

    A coalition of youth group under the aegis of “Youths Occupy State Assembly” (YOSA) has pledged to upturn the old traditional system of recycling politicians in a bid to take over the centre-stage of governance.

    The group adopted the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), as the only veritable platform to actualise their dream at a press conference held at the Excellence Hotel, Ogba Lagos.

    The National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Eric Oluwole,  noted that the various youth platforms in the Southwest geo-political Zone have, within the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which guarantees the rights to lawful assembly and freedom of speech, resolved to rise against the dominance and recycling of old politicians. They have resolved to reposition the bastardised political system through the involvement of youths in governance.

    Oluwole said: “We have decided to adopt the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), as the only credible, veritable and youth-oriented party to be occupied and endorsed for youths in their political agitation.

    “Respecting our political ancestral father, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, an astute politician, presented the most coherent plan of action during the electioneering campaign in 1979. The party jettisoned building a coalition in a polarised political environment but based-partnership on the co-operation of like-minded advocates of democratic values with an objective cited in free education for all, free medical care, full employment, integrated rural development and good roads, among others.

    “The recent ‘not-too-young-to-run’ bill passed by the National Assembly was a commendable step embarked upon by the youth assemblies in Nigeria depicted our resolve to occupy the political space, in order to remodify the leadership order that has become a bottleneck in service delivery of good governance in Nigeria”, Oluwole said.

    In his remarks, the National Chairman of the UPN, Prof. Bankole Okuwa, blamed Nigerian leaders for the poor economic state of the country.

    The Political Scientist said since the country’s political independence in 1960, Nigeria, being a leading African country, is not an example in everything positive.

    “This is the home of corruption in the world. We are number three in the world. All our leaders know all this when they travel to developed countries. They know those things that are good but they can’t replicate them when they return home. All the leaders want is maintaining an upper class status so that they can be different from others.

    “Young graduates have no jobs and none of the political parties that we have in this country is ready to look into the issue of youth unemployment. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in a shambles. PDP is in ruins. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has a semblance of the UPN but they don’t practice the concepts and philosophies of the party,” he said.

    Prof. Okuwa advised the youth not to despair, that they should make themselves available for elective positions and seize the opportunities to unleash their potential in the 2019 general elections.

     

  • Mimiko marginalized Ondo North and South – UPN candidate

    Mimiko marginalized Ondo North and South – UPN candidate

    The governorship candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in Ondo State, Barr. Bolarinwa Aidi on Monday said the administration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko has short changed people of the state.
    He particularly lamented that the people living in the northern and southern senatorial areas of the state have been totally cut off from governance.
    Aidi stated this at a press conference held in Akure, the state capital to kick off his campaign ahead of November 26, gubernatorial poll.
    The UPN candidate said he intends to pursue with vigor, the five noble cardinal programmes of the party and return the state to the path of progress if elected.
    He noted that “on the issue of decadence in social amenities and dilapidated infrastructure, my heart bleeds anytime I remember that more than 75 percent of the citizens of my state are currently living without electricity and pipe borne water.
    “While the people of Ondo south and north are badly affected by this precarious situation, the outgoing inept, rudderless, greedy and insensitive administration under Mimiko has not been able to think out of the box by looking towards other viable options towards electricity generation.
    “The ripple effect of the denial of electricity to the larger population of the state for instance, can better be imagined than experienced-businesses are grounded or killed totally and the cost of running businesses for those who can afford to power their generators, are most times running those businesses at a loss.
    “It is most unfortunate that almost 96 percent of the Ondo state population are denied access to potable water.
    “The one-time celebrated Ondo State water corporation is now a shadow of itself as it has neglected, refused or patently denied the good people of Ondo clean, hygienic and treated water.”
    However, he promised to employ qualified teachers to teach students and also tackle unemployment head-on by having an in-depth research on how to reposition the economy of the state from prostate condition by diversifying into agriculture.
  • UPN not for highest bidder, says Fasehun

    UPN not for highest bidder, says Fasehun

    The Independent Na tional Electoral Com- mission (INEC) has released nomination documents to the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) for the regisration of candidates for elective  offices.

    Its National Chairman, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, collected the documents, which came in a compact disk format, at the INEC Headquarters, Abuja.

    Although many parties got their documents last week, the UPN could not collect the document, following the leadership crisis that engulfed the party.

    The materials, CFO1 and CFO2, are nomination forms for candidates at the ward, local government, state and federal levels.

    Fasehun said it was a major breakthrough and recognition for the party.

    He said the party would soon release its timetable for primaries.

    Fasehun added: “Securing the forms, CFO1 and CFO2, is a positive development, especially in the light of the recent developments in the party.

    “Being able to file candidates for elective and public office is a major pillar in the life of a political party. We at the UPN are elated to secure this important instrument that gives us the right to file candidates.”

    The National Treasurer, Okey Nwaneri, said the party has fixed nomination fees for aspirants

    He said presidential aspirants will pay N5 million;  governorship N2.5 million; Senate N2 million; House of Representatives N350,000; Council Chairmanship  N200,000 ; and Councillorship N50,000.

    Nwaneri said aspirants, except those for councillorship, must  present a letter of intent, following the payment of N50,000.

    However, he said that aspirants, who had previously purchased nomination forms, would be exempted from the payment of N50,000.

    The politician added: “Applicants will be profiled first by their relevant chairmen, at the ward, local government, state, or national office they are interested in contesting, before they recommend them to the National Secretariat for due diligence and the purchase of nomination forms.”

    On why the application fees are cheap, relative to fees announced by other parties, Fasehun said it was to curtail corruption in public office.

    He said:“The UPN is not sending politicians to steal and loot the treasury. Moreover, it must be emphasised that public position is held in trust for the party by the nominee or candidate. The party is supreme always. So, what we charge is merely to cover administrative costs.”