The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: PDP

  • Ayu emerges PDP National Chairman for the North

     

    Former Senate president, Iyorchia Ayu, yesterday, emerged consensus candidate of the North for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairmanship.

     

    Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, announced it after a meeting of PDP northern caucus at the Bauchi Government in Abuja.

     

    Fintiri, who is chairman of a panel set up by northern leaders to screen aspirants from the zone, said with Ayu’s emergence, the North would reach out to party leaders in the South to sell his candidature.

     

    While the North Central nominated Ayu as its consensus candidate, North East and North West nominated former Senate leader, Abdul Ningi and former Kastina State governor, Ibrahim Shema, respectively.

    However, the Adamawa governor said although the three aspirants were qualified to lead the party, following intense discussion, northern leaders settled for Ayu.

     

     

     

    “All of them were immensely qualified but through discussion and reconciliation, we have emerged with consensus list that was endorsed by the candidates themselves. There was no election and there was no selection.”

     

    Ayu’s emergence is the climax of days of intrigues and horse-trading among northern PDP stakeholders.

     

    The former Senate president would be presented to the PDP National Convention holding in Abuja from October 30 to 31 for ratification as national chairman.

     

    A party source, who attended the meeting, told Daily Sun that “at the meeting, Ningi withdrew from the contest as the North East pledged support for the North Central. When the North West discovered they cannot go alone, they equally supported Ayu.”

     

    Ayu, in a chat with journalists, said as chairman, he would run an inclusive administration and work with all leaders of the party across the country to return the PDP to power.

     

    “The PDP will be back to its winning ways. And we will work tirelessly after the convention to rebuild the party to take over power to rebuild the country.

     

    “I believe Nigerians want a PDP government. Our 16 years moved this country forward. We intend to work together with all the leaders, not only in the North, but across the country to reposition this country for the next generation of Nigerians.

     

    “It will be an all-inclusive administration of the party. We will work collectively to produce policies which will be acceptable Nigerians. Today, our currency is the weakest in the world. Even the Somalians are better than us in Africa. We will work hard to solve the issue of insecurity.

     

    “I want to thank the Northern leaders, who are united, determined and who are willing to work with me. I am a foundation member of this party. I worked in the party before, but I know that you cannot do it alone. We shall work as team,” he said.

     

    Multiple sources said he emerged based on agreement that his adoption would not preclude anybody from any zone from contesting the Presidency.

     

    One of the decisions reached at the meeting was that if the emergence of a presidential candidate tilt the scale in favour of any zone, the chairman would resign and work for the candidate.

     

    “It is after Ayu and the governors agreed to this that Shema and Nazif agreed to withdraw from the race.”

     

    He said Atiku played no role in all the negotiations and observed that it was only last weekend that both men spoke for the first time after many years of not communicating.

     

    Meanwhile, former minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi, has said the PDP wwould win the 2023 presidential election.

     

    Gbagi, governorship aspirant in Delta State, said Nigerians have seen the difference between the PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC), and now know better where to cast their votes.

     

    He said the country has deteriorated in the past six years under the APC-led Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

     

    Gbagi spoke at Oginibo in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State after his return from Ondo State where he was conferred with Aare Atunluse of Akure kingdom.

     

    The former mnister is convinced that politicians defecting from PDP to APC were be coerced, adding that such persons remained PDP members who would work for the success of the party.

     

    “All the people running from PDP to APC are not APC members. They are PDP members in blood, soul and body, and they are all going to work for PDP.

     

    “PDP is going to produce the next president in Nigeria. If you don’t marry two wives, they say, you do not know which one is better. It is for you to marry two wives and see the difference.

     

    “And you will have a situation in the next election where they, who thought they are forced by their own thinking to join APC, will be bearing APC in the day and at the night, they are PDP members,” he said.

     

    The security expert and renowned entrepreneur also said Nigeria would not disintegrate, and accused the Federal Government of being the problem of the country.

     

    “If there is any problem in Nigeria, it is the government. What ought to be beautiful, what ought to be the happiest thing of our life is our population.

     

    “Population anywhere in the world is a money spinner, an economic driver, but all of that we are toiling with, hence we are where we are today,” he said

     

    “We, as Nigerians, must correct immediately the situation before machineries or government of nations other than our nation come to correct it for us.”

     

    Meanwhile, a pressure group within the PDP, North Central PDP Rebirth Forum ( NCPDPRF) has rejected the emergence of Ayu as consensus chairmanship candidate.

     

    The convener of the group, Mohammed Idah, in a statement, yesterday, stated that the former Senate President’s adoption is part of alleged plan to exclude the North Central from the 2023 presidential contest..

     

    “The North Central has produced several PDP national Chairmen. For the avoidance of doubts, the Pioneer PDP chairman was Chief Solomon Lar from Plateau State, Engr. Barnabas Gemade and Chief Audu Ogbe were all PDP chairmen from Benue State.

     

    “Ahamdu Ali from Kogi state, Alhaji Kawu Baraje from kwara state also became chairman of our party without any benefit to the North Central. We totally reject the move to stop the North Central from aspiring for the Presidency in 2023 using any guise. Not even the position of the National Chairman of PDP,” the group stated.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • Ozigbo, Anambra And Tomorrow

    Ozigbo, Anambra And Tomorrow

    By Oseloka H. Obaze

    Often, while the past is fraught with bleak history, the future is poignant with imponderables. That cliché fits well into Anambra States governance narrative and leadership needs. A slew of well known names aspire to lead Anambra come 17 March 2022. The qualifying election is scheduled for 6 November 2021. Everyone in the race is running against a glaringly poor APGA governance record from 2014 to date.

    The choice of who leads Anambra state in 2021, is now well beyond debate or academic exercise. It is an existential question for the Anambra population. History should serve as a guide. For the past seven years, Anambra has been a case study on lessons learned and hugely missed opportunities. The only apt word for defining governance in Anambra since 2014, is “mistake”.

    The choice in 2014, has been affirmed as utterly mistaken. The incumbent Governor, Willie Obiano wrote his own testimonial. The governance scorecard is most unflattering. The decision to keep him in office in 2017 after the first dismal four years was consequential, negatively speaking. It was a factor of a blinkered choice foisted and fostered by traditional emotionalism. Anambra is worse off for it. While the incumbent will bear the historical burden, vicarious responsibility goes to the supporting cast from all sectors.

    Obaze and Ozigbo

    Since 2014 good governance has eluded Anambra State, despite cosmetic approaches, sloganeering and governance by billboard and media hype. The concrete results are less tangible and less evident, both in-terms of soft power dividends and hard power accruals. Even the touted security sector has suffered evident severe reverse.

    Now for Anambra, another opportunity beckons.

    Of the contesting lot, just one person will elected. If the choice is left entirely left to Anambra people, it ought not to be a hard sell or difficult choice. Anambra needs a focus, disciplined, down to earth administrator to guide her henceforth. That person, should not be concerned about politicking, but about good governance, period.

    The reality is that Anambra stands broken – in infrastructure, governance, as well as morally and fiscally. The state needs to be fixed, very badly, considering that the governance record of ruling APGA party and incumbent Governor Willie Obiano has been nothing but abysmal. This view is bereft of sentiments and partisan fervor. One must call a spade a spade. Already, erstwhile supporters of the APGA regime are jumping ship or recusing themselves, lest they become guilty by association.

    Of all those qualified candidates who hold party governorship tickets, only one person, Valentine Chineto Ozigbo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag-bearer is eminently qualified on all accounts to lead Anambra going forward. The underpinning qualifier, is not just the credentials, it is a mix of experience, credentials, personality, global worldview and the ability to effectively run the state as an enterprise based on global best practices.

    For her inscrutable candidate, APC’s record at the Centre is an albatross. Such record will not sell at Nkwo Nnewi, Onitsha or Eke Awka. It won’t even sell in Chris Ngige’s hood of Allor and Nnobi. Anambra is not an APC State. It has never been and will not be going forward. A Supreme Court reprise of its affront in Imo, is not possible here.

    The ruling APGA’s poor governance record rules her out. No one rewards poor leadership. Regardless of who is her eventual candidate, APGA is toast.

    Moreover, Prof. Charles Soludo, who seeks the Anambra mandate under APGA, must now deal with the inconvenient truth; when Anambra was going down the road to perdition and prebendal abyss under Obiano in 2017, rather than speak truth to power and to the Anambra people, Soludo engaged in self-serving obfuscation, by claiming that “IF IT AIN’T BROKEN, WHY FIX IT?” So if Anambra is not broke and broken, rotten, filthy, decrepit deeply indebted and underdeveloped, what is Soludo coming to solve and why does the state need his solution?

    The other parties and their hopping, knee-jerk and forum shopping candidates are in the race only to fill up the rest of the racecourse track. Most of the parties are minor leaguers bereft of grassroots support base or fans, albeit with deep pocket maverick candidates. Try as they may, no one will entrust Anambra to another egocentric persona.

    Anambra is a hub begging for good governance.  The material, human capital, revenue  and fiscal resources required to effectively run the state exist, despite its having been recklessly dragged into a debt peonage.  What is needed, is a transformative, adaptive, purposeful and caring leader.

    From a policy and governance perspective, Valentine Chineto Ozigbo (VCO) of PDP offers the best possible platform and grand strategy for rejuvenating Anambra and setting her on the part of sustainable development.

    From the hard copy and televised defense of his Manifesto, it can be gleaned that Ozigbo is on his marks, set and ready to hit the ground running, in governing Anambra. Indeed, a glimpse into his mindset and template of the policies and programmes he plans to execute in his first 100 days is quite revelatory.

    With Valentine C. Ozigbo, Anambra and her progressive future and development will become fungible as well as inextricable. And that is why I have endorsed Ozigbo for Governor. The campaign and race for Agu Awka 2021 is that simple.

     

    ——————-

    Obaze, the PDP 2017 Governorship Candidate, wrote from Awka

  • Zoning controversy: PDP tearing apart

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faces a stormy week over zoning of party offices.

     

    Two key meetings on the vexed issue — the final session of the National Zoning Committee headed by Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and the party’s governors’ meeting on the report of the Ugwuanyi panel – will hold this week.

     

     

    The Ugwuanyi panel’s meeting last week ended in a deadlock.

     

    Members were divided over the proposal by leaders of the party in the North who proposed adoption of the 2017 formula.

     

    The 2017 formula zones the party chairman to the South, which inevitably leaves the presidential zoning to the North.

     

    Southerners at the meeting said Governor Ugwuanyi ended the meeting and rescheduled it for Wednesday as the groups – the ‘Maintain the Status Quo Group’ promoted by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and ‘Move Around Group’ championed by former President of the Senate Anyim Pius Anyim – battled to carry the day.

     

    Read Also; 2023: The zoning controversy

    The Makinde-led group was okay with zoning of the chairmanship slot to the South while the one propelled by Anyim wanted the chairmanship slot pushed to the North, sources at the meeting told our correspondent.

     

    Another former Senate President Iyorcha Ayu, at the Enugu meeting, warned that any decision on zoning may not be binding, unless the positions of the governors are known.

     

    “The need for consensus on zoning is important because decisions to be taken at this week’s meetings will be taken to the National Executive Committee (NEC), the last to be held between October 31 Convention”, a party leader said at the weekend.

     

    He added: “If it is not resolved and we go for convention in this manner, the convention will be a convention of crisis. If we don’t agree as stakeholders, the date set for the convention may not be certain.”

     

    The source also predicted a rancorous PDP governors’ meeting, saying that the Forum is already divided.

     

    He said the Southern PDP governors, with the exception of Makinde, are not likely to shift ground on the resolution of the Southern Governors that the South should produce President Buhari’s successor in 2023.

     

    At the weekend, prominent PDP chieftains from the North were lobbying their Southern counterparts to prevail on the Southern PDP governors to shift ground.

     

    The source added: “There is a major difficulty. The North wants to contest for president. But key leaders in the South, particularly the governors, insist that by 2023, the North would have done eight years in Aso Villa.

     

    “The PDP leaders in the South are saying that after eight years, how do we give our future to the North since the next president, if he also comes from the North, will spend eight years?

     

    At the Enugu meeting, PDP leaders from the North were quoted as saying Yar’Adua was the last PDP president from the North. But, the PDP leaders from the South said the leadership of Nigeria is not about PDP or APC; that Buhari had taken the place of the North. They maintained that any political party that produces the president means that a zone has produced a president; it means that zone has taken its place.

     

    It was learnt that due to flight problems, some chieftains could not make the meeting.

     

    Among chieftains who could not attend the meeting were former Senate President David Mark, Mrs. Jumoke  Akinjide and Senator Hosea Agboola.

  • PDP National Convention – Zoning Committee Meeting Ends In a Stalemate

    PDP National Convention – Zoning Committee Meeting Ends In a Stalemate

    The meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Convention Committee on Zoning in Enugu on Thursday ended in a stalemate as stakeholders could not reach a definite decision on where the next national chairman of the party should emerge from, Daily Independent gathered.

    Following the development, the committee adjourned till next week Thursday in order to allow it to consult with other relevant stakeholders in the party, especially the PDP Governors’ Forum and the Board of Trustees (BoT).

    Addressing newsmen after the closed-door meeting held at the Government House, Enugu, chairman of the committee and governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, said that “we had a fruitful meeting and we adjourned to conclude next week”.

    There was a sharp division among members of the committee headed by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State on which zone should produce the next national chairman of the party which is currently occupied by the Southern part of the country.

    While some members of the committee wanted the South to retain it with the hope that doing so will pave way for the

    presidential candidate of the party to come from the North, others canvassed that the North should produce the next national chairman in the spirit of the four-year rotational agreement in the party.

    Daily Independent gathered that two groups emerged from within and outside the zoning committee with both disagreeing on where the next national chairman should come from.

    The first group, the ‘Maintain the Status Quo Group’, wanted all the party offices retained in the geographical side to which they presently are.

    However, the second group, the ‘Move Around Group’, wanted all the positions presently in the South to be transferred to the North while the ones in the North should move southward. By the calculation of the ‘Maintain the Status Quo Group’, the chairmanship of the party will be retained in the South while the national secretary will move to the North.

    However, the ‘Move Around Group’ wanted the next chairman of PDP to emerge from the North while the South produces the secretary. Also while the ‘Move Around Group’ believed that zoning the chairman’s position to the North will make the presidential ticket to be automatically zoned to the South, they continued to insist that the issue at hand now is party position and when the party gets to the point where it has to nominate the presidential flagbearer, the matter will be resolved.

    However, the ‘Maintain the Status Quo Group’ believed that the zoning committee should also adopt the position of the Bala Mohammed Committee which reviewed the performance of the party in the 2019 general election. It wanted the presidential ticket of the party thrown open for aspirants from all the six zones.

    Former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim led the ‘Move Around Group’ with the support of some elements in the South-South and SouthEast zones. The ‘Maintain the Status Quo Group’ is led by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo and has the buy-in of key leaders of the party across South-West and the three zones in the North.

    Earlier in his welcome address, Gov. Ugwuanyi clarified that the committee has no mandate to zone political offices such as president or vice president. The governor explained that “our committee is strictly limited to the PDP national executive offices to be contested at the 2021 PDP National Convention scheduled for the end of October 2021”, stressing: “We have no mandate to zone political offices such as president or vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

    Gov. Ugwuanyi maintained that the PDP remains the most credible platform to deliver good and accountable governance to Nigeria, adding that the work of the committee will contribute immensely “in this deliberate search for national officers of our party that will help PDP achieve the lofty ideals and goals of our founding fathers”.

    He, therefore, encouraged members of the committee to be frank, open and constructive in their proposals and debates, and also exhibit consistency with the enormity of their mandate.

    “The membership and leadership of this committee have been carefully selected as it is composed of very experienced, competent and eminent Nigerians who are desirous of repositioning the PDP to play its role not just as the main opposition political party in Nigeria but to build a party that offers alternative policy proposals and hope to Nigerians that there is still light at the end of the tunnel”, Gov. Ugwuanyi said.

    Members of the committee present at the meeting included the governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom, who is the Deputy Chairman; the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, Barr. Mahdi Aliyu Mohammed, who serves as secretary; former Presidents of the Senate, Senators Iyorchia Ayu and Anyim Pius Anyim; and former governors of Niger, Ekiti, Sokoto, Jigawa and Adamawa states, Dr. Muazu Aliyu Babangida, Ayodele Fayose, Attahiru Bafarawa, Sule Lamido, and Boni Haruna, respectively.

    They also included Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, Rt. Hon. Sunday K. E Okoye, Chief Dan Orbih, Chief (Dr.) Ali Odefa, Amb. (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe, Chief Osita Chidoka, Chidi Lloyd, Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw, Senator Emmanuel Nwaka, Engr. Donatus Udeh, among others.

    Meanwhile, ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) national convention slated for October 30, 6000 delegates will converge in Abuja to elect new National Working Committee (NWC) to pilot the affairs of the party.

    This is even as Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom and Darius Ishaku of Taraba have emerged as chairmen of sub-committees. These developments emerged on Thursday during the inauguration of the party’s 15 sub-convention committees.

    Disclosing this after the inauguration, the Chairman of the National Convention organising committee and Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, also said that the leadership tussle in the party has largely been addressed.

    He said: “We are expecting over 6,000 delegates by our new constitution and we are fully prepared for that. We’re expecting everybody in every ward that is a delegate to attend the convention.

    “We are moving on. I am the chairman of the convention committee and you can see that we are doing our work.

    Everybody is happy and participating. I don’t see any crisis in this party.”

    On which provision of the party’s constitution is likely to be amended, Fintiri stressed the importance of allowing the committee to complete its job, saying, “I don’t want to preempt anybody’s job. The work is segmented into sub-committees. The constitution committee is working, and I will wait for the report to be submitted before I make any comment on it,” he added.

    Meanwhile, Governor Wike has emerged as the Chairman of Special Duties Sub-Committee; Governor Emmanuel, Chairman of Constitutional Amendment and Governor Darius, Chairman of Contact and Mobilisation.

    Other appointments as announced by Senator Duoye Diri include Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Mohammed Bello Adoke, Ifeanyi Okowa, and Solomon Arase as chairmen of zoning, screening, screening appeal, accreditation and security committees.

    Others are Ahmadu Fintiri (electoral), Godwin Obaseki (publicity), Bala Mohammed (venue), Mariya Waziri (welfare and entertainment), Ibrahim Dankwambo (transportation), Biodun Olujimi (protocol), Nuhu (medical) and Ibrahim Tsauri (secretariat).

  • 2021 PDP National Convention: NEC to decide zoning formulae after Ugwuanyi’s zoning committee sends its report to the organ for deliberation~Kola Ologbondiyan

    2021 PDP National Convention: NEC to decide zoning formulae after Ugwuanyi’s zoning committee sends its report to the organ for deliberation~Kola Ologbondiyan

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it cannot decide where to zone its 2023 presidential ticket as well as the National Working Committee (NWC) offices until some issues are resolved, PREMIUM TIMES reports, as Governors Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State chair convention planning and zoning committees respectively.

    After its 93rd National Executive Council (NEC) meeting attended by governors, lawmakers, former ministers and other leaders on Thursday, in Abuja, the party also said it has approved the two new committees in preparation for its forthcoming national convention.

    PREMIUM TIMES sighted at least eight out of the 13 governors elected on PDP platform, as well as its two-term Vice-President and 2019 Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, attended the meeting which was presided over by the party’s Acting National Chairman, Yemi Akinwonmi.

    The embattled National Chairman, Uche Secondus, was conspicuously absent.

    At a press conference held after the long closed-door meeting, the PDP spokesperson Kola Ologbondiyan told journalists that the NEC approved the composition of the National Convention Organising Committee and a Zoning Committee to arrive at a favourable zoning formulae for National Working Committee (NWC) offices.

    “The new committees will be chaired by the Governors of Adamawa and Enugu states, Ahmadu Fintiri, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, respectively, while Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, and the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, will deputise the duo.

    “The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, was appointed as the secretary of the convention organising committee while the Deputy Governor of Zamfara, Mahdi Aliyu, will serve as the secretary of the zoning committee.

    “NEC approved the composition of the National Convention Organising Committee as well as the Zoning Committee to zone the National Working Committee offices.

    “NEC approved Ahmadu Fintiri, Governor of Adamawa State as Chairman 2021 National Convention Committee. Senator Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State, as the deputy chairman of the committee while Engineer Seyi Makinde is to serve as the committee secretary.

    “On Zoning Committee, NEC approved Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Governor of Enugu State as chairman, Dr Samuel Ortom, the Governor of Benue State is the deputy chairman while Barrister Madi Aliyu Muhammed, the deputy governor of Zamfara State, is secretary of the Zoning Committee,” Ologbondiyan said.

    He said NEC can only decide its zoning formulae after the committee sends its report to the organ for deliberation.

    Ologbondiyan did not disclose the names of the other members of the committees and the duration they are to serve but assured journalists that they will be named before the convention.

    With the fate of its national chairman Uche Secondus uncertain, the main opposition party has since fixed its national convention for 30 and 31 October.

    Ologbondiyan said the party will not change the date as it continues to work to resolve all pending issues among members.

    The PDP held its elective convention in December 2017 when the current Secondus-led NWC was elected.

    The leadership crisis rocking the party forced the party to move the coming convention to October.

  • Ugwuanyi heads PDP zoning committee, as Fintiri chairs PDP convention committee. 

    Ugwuanyi heads PDP zoning committee, as Fintiri chairs PDP convention committee. 

    Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, has emerged the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Convention Planning Committee.

    The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said this was part resolutions reached at the party’ s 93rd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, held on Thursday, in Abuja.

    List of the members of the Zoning committee

    Ologbondiyan, who stated the NEC meeting, which was called to firm up plans for the PDP October 30 convention, noted that the Bayelsa State governor, Diri Douye and his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, will serve as deputy chairman and secretary of the convention committee, respectively.

    Similarly, he explained that NEC also approved the appointment of Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as chairman of the PDP zoning committee.

     

  • Breaking: Former Aviation minister, Stella Oduah dumps PDP for APC

    Breaking: Former Aviation minister, Stella Oduah dumps PDP for APC

    A former Minister of Aviation and Senator representing Anambra North, Stella Oduah has defected from the People’s Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress party.

    The defection is coming ahead of Anambra State governorship election.

    The announcement of her defection was made in the presence of the  Caretaker  National Chairman of the party, Mai Mala Buni, Chairman APC Anambra Campaign Council and Imo state governor, Hope uzodinma, Deputy Senate President; Ovie Omo-Agege, and the APC governorship candidate for Anambra election, Andy Uba.

  • Party Crisis: PDP NWC Meeting Postponed Indefinitely

    Party Crisis: PDP NWC Meeting Postponed Indefinitely

    August 24, 2021

    The National Working Committee (NWC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), earlier scheduled to take place today, has been postponed indefinitely.

    The deputy national chairman (South) of the party, Elder Yemi Akinwonmi, announced this in a press release, dated 24 August, 2023.

    The indefinite postponement of the meeting is coming on the heel of a Port Harcourt, Rivers State High Court judgment, on Monday evening, which barred the embattled national chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, from acting in that capacity.

    The court pronouncement also directed Secondus to stop parading himself as a member of the main opposition which has been besotted with leadership crisis.

    With the judicial pronouncement, Prince Secondus has been restrained from summoning and presiding over the meetings of any of the organs of the party.

    The PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), Elder Akinwonmi, said, by the virtue of the provisions of the party’s constitution, he was empowered to summon and preside over party meetings in the absence of the national chairman.

    He, however, said in view of the prevailing circumstances, and in the exercise of his powers, as entrusted on him by the PDP Constitution, he deemed it proper to postpone indefinitely the NWC meeting of the party.

    Akinwonmi said the NWC meeting has been postponed till further notice to allow for broader consultations, and in the overall interest of the party.

    “Section 35(3) (b) of the constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party empowers me to summon and preside over party meetings in the absence of the national chairman.

    “Our attention was drawn yesterday evening to court order which purports to restrain our National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, from summoning and presiding over the meetings of the organs of the party.

    “In the foregoing circumstances, as Deputy National Chairman (South) of the Peoples Democratic Party, after due consultations and in exercise of the aforesaid powers, [I] hereby deem it fit and proper to postpone the National Working Committee meeting earlier scheduled for today till further notice to allow for broader consultations in the overall interest of our party,” the release stated.

  • INEC clears APGA (Soludo) and blanks out PDP

     

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released a fresh list of political party candidates that will participate in the November 6 governorship election blanking out the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and giving a clean bill of health to former Governor of Central Bank (CBN), Professor Charles Soludo as the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA).

    In a statement the Commission issued on Thursday and signed by National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, the apex electoral body indicated that while a total number of eight political parties substituted governorship candidates, four others substituted their deputies.

     

     

     

    The Commission disclosed that the final list of candidates will however be released on September 7 in line with its timetable and schedule of activities approved on January 18, this year.

     

    According to the Commission, the political parties that substituted candidates are Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Africa Action Congress (AAC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), National Rescue Movement (NRM) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which substituted due to Court Order.

     

    Other parties that substituted its deputy governorship candidates are; All Progressives Congress (APC), APM, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP).

     

     

     

    The Commission’s statement read: “The Commission met on Thursday and deliberated on a number of issues, including the nomination of candidates for the Anambra governorship election holding on November 6, 2021.

     

    “The timetable and schedule of activities approved by the Commission on January 18, 2021 provides for the withdrawal/substitution of candidates in line with Sec. 35 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).

     

    “Accordingly, by the deadline of July 30, 2021 fixed by the Commission, seven governorship and 11 deputy governorship candidates were substituted by 11 out of the 18 political parties.

     

    “Similarly, the Commission was served with the judgement of the Court of Appeal (Kano Division) which set aside the judgement of the High Court of Jigawa State on the leadership of APGA and the nomination of its candidates for the Anambra Governorship election.

     

    “The list of substitute candidates is attached to this press release. It has also been published on the Commission’s website.

     

    “However, the final list of candidates will be published on October 7, 2021 as provided in the timetable and schedule of activities for the election,” the statement read.

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • APC has begun plans to rig the 2023 general election – Secondus

     

    National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, yesterday, alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has begun plans to rig the 2023 general election.

    Secondus, in a statement by Ike Abonyi, said the Presidency and ruling party were not working towards free and fair polls in 2023.

     

    He spoke against the backdrop of media reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is halting procurement of electronic voting machines for the 2023 polls because of the rejection of e-transmission of election results by the National Assembly.

     

    He said since the existing Electoral Act and 1999 Constitution gave INEC the latitude to conduct credible elections, it does not need the National Assembly’s approval to perform its duties.

     

    “From all indications, INEC is trying to abdicate its constitutionally assigned responsibilities of conducting free, fair and transparent elections hiding under the cover of delayed amended Electoral Act or rejection of e-transmission of results.

     

     

     

    “Nigerians and democratic observers globally are watching INEC ahead of 2023 and it will be disastrous if the independent electoral body dances to the antics of the ruling party,” he said

     

    Secondus said if INEC was able to conduct governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states in September and October last year respectively without the amended Electoral Act, it was possible to replicate the same feat all over the country.

     

    Meanwhile, PDP has described plans by the Federal Government to re-introduce toll gates on some major highways as insensitive.

     

    The party, in a statement by its National Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, yesterday, said the planned re-introduction of toll gates would impose more hardship on Nigerians.

     

    The opposition party recalled that its past administration had dismantled the toll gates 18 years ago in order to ease the burden on the people, as well as end the corrupt regime of operators.

     

    According to the party, with the huge financial resources at the disposal of the government, there is no justification to impose an extra road tax, “particularly in the face of the reckless and unbridled looting of national revenue by its leaders.

     

    “Our party, after an extensive consideration, insists the move to return the toll gates to allow All Progressives Congress (APC) interests to further fleece already impoverished Nigerians, is offensive, vexatious, inflammatory and as such should not be contemplated under any guise whatsoever.

     

    “The PDP, therefore completely rejects the return of toll gates, as it will add more economic burden on the people, lead to hike in transport fares, increase in the prices of goods and services as well as provide safe haven for corrupt APC leaders to extort money from innocent Nigerians.

     

    “APC’s decision to impose levies on the highway, even after it had increased the pump price of fuel to an extortionate N165 per litre, further confirms that APC is a heartless party that is out to fleece and impose hardship on the people to benefit its leaders.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • PDP Govs plots to use Unity list

     

    THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, appears to be heading for another crisis, as members of the Board of Trustees, BoT, expanded leaders and other stakeholders have kicked against attempts by governors elected on the platform of the party to resurrect the Unity List which led to the emergence of the current national chairman, Mr. Uche Secondus, in 2017.

     

    Before last Tuesday’s meeting, where the stakeholders handed Secondus a two-month lifeline, some governors, members of the National Working Committee, NWC; House of Representatives Caucus and youths, mounted pressure on the embattled chairman to resign.

     

    Vanguard gathered that the governors, who backed Secondus through the December 2017 Unity list before the National Convention, are calling for his ouster against the backdrop that, having invested in him to clinch the position, he was allegedly no longer loyal to them.

     

    Meanwhile, some stakeholders at the last meeting were said to have complained that the then Unity List, produced by the governors, has resurfaced.

     

    They argued that the reemergence of the list will continue to hunt and tear the party apart.

     

    They also alleged that while many leaders were schemed out of the 2017 nomination process and convention, many aspirants were coerced by the governors to stepping down for their anointed candidate.

     

    Some stakeholders, who spoke with Vanguard in confidence, said the governors continue to have their ways because they are major financiers of the party and could remove those perceived not to be loyal to them.

     

     

     

    The stakeholders, who were not comfortable with the list, have vowed to work against a repeat of what happened in 2017.

     

    They also expressed concern that manipulation of party delegates during conventions had always been easy because the governors allegedly foot their bills and other logistics.

     

    Secondus came on board in 2017, with his four-year tenure to end December 6, 2021, but some governors and party leaders wanted his removal.

     

    READ ALSO: Toll Gates move by APC to inflict more hardship on Nigerians – PDP

    Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who was instrumental to his becoming the National Chairman, was alleged to be the one plotting the removal of Secondus.

     

    As a soft landing for the embattled chairman, stakeholders of the party, comprising 13 Governors, BoT members, expanded caucus, other organs of the party, brought the national elective convention forward to October, which has to be ratified by the National Executive Committee, NEC.

     

    Why we kicked against Unity List — BoT member

     

    But a BoT member from the north, who spoke with Vanguard in confidence, faulted the emergence of the Unity List, saying it will lead to bad blood within the fold.

     

    He said: “The meeting went well. At least we have been able to douse tension in the party and we have been able to stop what would have been a major calamity for the party if Secondus was forced to resign.

     

     

     

    “My take and what some of the stakeholders are saying is that the 2017 Unity list is affecting the party, it created bad blood among the contenders and their supporters.

     

    “I raised the issue with some stakeholders that the governors, who brought Secondus through the list, also want to remove him because they feel that he is no longer loyal to them and he may frustrate them ahead of 2023.”

     

    Unity List haunting PDP — ex-NWC

     

    Another member of BoT and former member of NWC, who is familiar with the Unity List said: “The crisis is partly because of the Unity List that took everyone, especially aspirants by surprise. The list has resurrected. The governors brought Secondus and they want to remove him, but we, as stakeholders, are with him hence, we came up with the Doctrine of Necessity that rather than wait till December, the Convention should hold October.

     

    ‘’Until the party funds itself and stakeholders come up and say no to this grip of the party, this kind of problem will still come up. We are not saying the governors are not critical to the party, but in taking this kind of decision, major stakeholders should be carried along.”

     

    Unity list not good for PDP — Babatope

     

    Also speaking, a former member of the PDP BoT and former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, said the Unity List will lead to the hijack of the party.

     

    Babatope said: “We have never objected to the Unity List as long as the list is geared towards winning elections.

     

    ‘’We do not want to take part in dismembering the party and as far as I am concerned, I am a member of the PDP and I will not join another party except the PDP. So, I wish the party the best.

     

    So, I wish the party the best. As long as the Unity List is tampered with by people who have vested interest, it is a terrible thing for the party. All I k now is that the PDP must regroup to win future elections.”

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.vanguardngr.com

  • Judgment day for Secondus as govs, elders decide fate

    Judgment day for Secondus as govs, elders decide fate

     

    It’s judgment day for embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, as governors and elders of the party meet to iron out grey areas rocking the opposition party, including calls for his sack by some party faithful.

    Daily Sun gathered that the governors would, however, go into the meeting, sharply divided on the calls for his removal. It was learnt that while some of the governors have taken side with party faithful who blame the misfortunes of the party on Secondus post 2019 general election, and want him out before the expiration of his tenure, others are insisting he should be allowed to serve out his term, which ends on December 9, 2021.

    A source privy to the division within the governors said those opposed to Secondus continued stay have demanded the setting up of a caretaker committee that would conduct congresses and also convene national convention to elect a new National Working Committee (NWC) that would prepare the party for the 2023 general election.

    “Those in support of Secondus said he should stay out his tenure while in the next election, the national chairmanship position be retained in the south. Yet, another set of governors, with presidential ambitions in 2023, want the national chairmanship position zoned out of their regions.

    “With a divided house, the governors are expected to meet this evening, brief concerned elders peers of the party. Thereafter, the Board of Trustees would meet to discuss their recommendations.”

    Another source in Abuja said most governors of the party are campaigning for the removal of Secondus to ensure he does not preside over the National Executive Committee(NEC), where a committee would be selected to organise its national convention.

    However, a member of the Concerned Elders forum of the PDP, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, yesterday, said even the forum is also divided on Secondus’ stay as national chairman.

    The party official who disclosed that some governors want  Secondus out so he does not preside over the National Executive Committee(NEC) said: “The don’t want Secondus to preside over the NEC meeting where the electoral panel that would convene the national convention would be selected What he’s banking on is that he would get to chair the NEC, select members of the panel that would return him as national chairman for a second term at the national convention Some of the governors are against this. He may not be allowed to chair the NEC because at NEC, he can wriggle his way through by recognising only those that would be favourable to his ambition. They just want him out before the next NEC meeting.” (sunnewsonline.com)