…. As Princewill says, “at the end, Rivers State will win”
The Candidates of the Labour Party in Akulga/ Asalga Federal and State Constituencies in Rivers State have registered their disenchantment and disapproval over what they termed “ostrich game” played by the Independent National Electoral Commission pertaining to the conduct of the recent Rerun polls (Federal and State Houses of Assembly) in Rivers State.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu – INEC Chairman
In a statement signed by Douglas Dodiyi – Manuel (Candidate, Akulga/Asalga Federal Constituency), Ted Dagogo Princewill (Candidate, House of Assemble ASALGA Constituency 1) and Saturday Dabotubo Ngoji (Candidate, House of Assemble ASALGA Constituency 2) said “INEC appeared to have deliberately covered its head in the shameful and dirty political sand and consequently neglected or refused to perform its duties without fear or favour. Rather, INEC finds it convenient to call for a fresh re-run each time the elections are marred by violence and killings instead of wielding the big sick against the known perpetrators of violence and anarchy so as to move the State forward and improve our electoral culture and expectations.”
Continuing, the candidates said “it is disheartening that INEC has failed to initiate a proceeding to disqualify the candidates of the two political parties that have held the State to ransom shedding innocent blood in the process. The Electoral umpire has chosen to treat the gladiators and perpetrators of mayhem with kid-gloved hands and conveniently call for re-run which is bound to produce the very same scenario and predictable result that would be no reflect reality.
“It is irrational and unfair to lead us and our teaming supporters into a fool’s voyage with proven lethal ends as our electoral process is now associated with dynamites, guns and other weapons of war.
“We therefore resolve as follows:
“That we shall withdraw from further participation in the endless charade of an election except INEC initiates a proceeding to the effect of punishing or disqualifying the candidates of the political parties who persistently perpetrate and sponsor violence against innocent Rivers people.
“That INEC should refund our expenses with regard to the last two botched polls and compensate us monetarily for resources and time wasted in the botched polls.
“It is on record that INEC omitted the name of a major political party in the Result Sheet of Asari Toru Local Government Area. This is a patent illustration of INEC’S inefficiency and unpreparedness for the Election that culminated in the wastage of our time and resources on the one hand, and the needless death of innocent citizens and the perpetration of mayhem.
“We shall therefore initiate legal proceeding to seek redress against INEC if it fails to perform its statutory duties by complying with this demand.
In Prince Tonye Princewill’s response to this development he simply said: “If democracy is government of the people by the people and for the people, things have got to change. It is illegal to be legal in an illegal society”
He also added that, “Those who say this election was bad, have no clue as to what the 2015 election was like. If politicians have no alternative to politics, then their politics will remain do or die. Especially when death has no consequence on earth and God forgives freely while Nigerians forgive freer. INEC is now a referee that can’t even issue red cards.”
“My advice to my people is – do all you can to remain peaceful. God is not sleeping and every cloud has a silver lining. Justice is not far away. The war between Wike & Amaechi is almost over. Mark my words. And the winner will be Rivers state.”
Support for the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya mounted on Sunday as member representing Ethiope East Constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Evance Ivwurie lauded his leadership qualities, describing him as “an inspiring and magnetic political figure.”
“I will describe Igbuya as a democrat in our hallowed Chamber and in leadership. He is a team player. He is a very energetic, hard-working, disciplined, committed and very effective law-maker. Rather than deny any member of his or her right, he fights for and protects the rights of every member daily” he said.
In a statement issued in Asaba, Ivwurie, a Labour Party (LP) member, described his relationship with Igbuya as “beautiful”.
“My relationship with Speaker Igbuya as someone elected from a different political party from that the Speaker is bipartisan, friendly, mutually respectable and cordial. Mr. Speaker finds common ground through compromise in legislation with opposing political parties. He does not adhere only to his political party interest. He does not advance his own political party agenda unduly in the exercise of his duty as Speaker at the expense of the other political party because of conflicting ideologies. Speaker Igbuya especially, and every member of the Delta State House of Assembly has not left anyone in doubt that he and we all have the interest of a united, indivisible and strong Delta State at heart, in ways that the interest of the State has overriding effect over and above Mr. Speaker and all members personal interests and considerations” he said.
In a statement titled: “My Perspectives on Mister Speaker”, Ivwurie listed patience and persistence as two most useful character traits of Igbuya.
“Mr. Speaker is completely bipartisan and this has reflected in all of the bills, acts, resolutions and policies we have dealt with in the House in which the Speaker and all members have agreed about all or many parts of the choices by finding a common ground in bipartisanship and that is why there is no cynicism and gridlock in Delta State political and economic system. It has been a strong spirit of Delta State first, bipartisanship and hard-work. I can assure you that Speaker Igbuya is always looking out for the best interests of Delta State”.
Emphasizing that the speaker is an honest politician who has a clear vision for the House and the State, Ivwurie accused critics of Igbuya of pursuing selfish agenda.
“My Assessment of his performance will start with his weakness. First thing I will like to talk about is the general weakness of Mr. Speaker which is well known to so many people because it continues to cause him problems regularly. He is considered highly and overtly too prudent, frugal and inexpensive, even journalists and those seeking services have this quarrel with him all the time. He always wants to make sure Delta State does not waste or spend money that she does not have. He is also considered by many members to be too open and transparent especially on finance and funding. He has no reservation as to correcting his colleagues behind as he is unable to compromise or accept unethical conducts no matter who is involved”.
The Labour Party member also offered some genuine insights on how the Delta State House of Assembly functions.
“Mr. Speaker is quite spiritual. He possesses a vision of a strong, strengthened and united Delta State. He is not temperamental but very decisive. He is very unflappable. His actions toward law making are matched with a political savvy that often includes a measure of expediency. Although he is consensus-seeking, he has always led the House by the House Rules as they exist, not as he would like them to exist. He is internet and Facebook friendly and has strong capacity to endure negative criticism. He believes that many criticisms are meant to keep him continuously on his toes.
He thanked Mister Speaker for his service to the state.
“Rt. Hon Igbuya is a leader who understands that our Country and State is in a total mess. He knows the depth and enormity of the predicaments and task that lies ahead of the State and he is seriously working with the Executive Governor, His Excellency, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa to surmount the challenges. He has self-discipline and he is very persuasive. He taps into the authentic need of his colleagues and members easily. So far, Mr. Speaker has shown clearly that he is neither a dealer nor a transactional leader. The interest of the State has always superseded his personal interests”.
He also heaped praise on Igbuya for cherishing the mood of his colleagues, saying, “The perspectives that I have shared above has resulted to many accomplishments and achievements of the Delta State House of Assembly under one year of Mr. Speaker’s passionate leadership and strong ability to mobilize members to attain goals as reflected in the speed of work in the several pro-development debates, considerations, confirmations, policies, acts, resolutions and bills that the House has dealt with and passed.”
President Muhammadu Buhari should stop giving further excuses and get down to work, writes Kayode Ajulo
“Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never is, but always to be blessed: the soul, uneasy and confined from home, rests and expatiates in a life to come.”
– Alexander Pope, an essay on man
Nigerians are generally a hardy people – resilient in the face of bleak circumstances. This trait, perhaps, is the singular reason the nation has survived the tumults of decades past, from independence till date. Our resilience as a people is a child of hope that “springs eternal in our hearts” apologies to British poet, Alexander Pope. Hope is an optimistic attitude of the mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.
General Buhari
Twenty-One gun salute to the Almighty God for the hopefulness of our hearts and the resilience of our hearts, as a nation, we have weathered all forms of storms and like the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians, “We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Not given to avarice or any of its undesirable cousins – sloth or greed, Nigerians do not demand too much; all the people want is a nation that works and allows every man to aspire to the fulfillment of personal dreams in a secure, conducive and enabling environment.
Nigerians desire a nation that is free from the threats posed by insecurity, dilapidated infrastructure, ineffective health facilities and widespread poverty. It could be said that all Nigerians hope for is a nation that cares for, and supports its citizens as a mother loves her offspring and as a father supports his seed, as seen in other developed nations to which many of our citizens have fled for succor.
It is this hope that, perhaps in our lifetime, we might witness a renaissance in Nigeria that would lift the nation out of its doldrums and into its pride of place amongst the comity of nations that has kept us time after time from the brink of anarchy and discord. It is this hope that brought the nation to the crossroads, to the March 28 valley of decision, where Nigerians once again, expressed indefatigable hope in the future of the nation as they cast their votes.
It is in this hope that Nigerians embraced the Change mantra of the All Progressives Congress, and voted General Muhammadu Buhari as President of our great nation. Indeed, Nigerians, weary of the decades old burden of bad leadership exercised that irrepressible hope that perhaps the retired soldier, famed for his integrity and Spartan lifestyle might succeed where many others, in our eventful history as a nation, have sought but failed to chart a course to our Promise Land.
However, if the omens we have observed in our polity since the May 29 inauguration of the President Buhari-led APC administration are anything to go by, it is fast appearing that again, Nigerians have been sold a dummy, and the much expected and celebrated change may very well be turning out to be nothing but a mirage.
The APC campaign propaganda prepared a menu of delectable promises for the Nigerian citizens and inevitably whetted the appetite of a population starved of good governance for over 30 decades, even though many of these promises were considered too good to be true by a more perceptive minority. The piper played the tune, and for the period that the music lasted, the nation danced. Alas the music has stopped, the honeymoon as requested is over, and the nation appears in for a rude awakening to a reality not as rosy as painted by the ruling APC government.
Promises made have been denied by spokesmen of the president, even though it is public record that those promises were indeed made. The Boko Haram insurgents are still wreaking mayhem and shedding blood in the North-east even though President Buhari made a promise to put an end to terrorism on our territories within a few months of assuming office as president.
Fulani herdsmen have gotten more brazen in their dastardly attacks on innocent and hapless citizens leaving a trail of blood and tears in their wake, yet the presidency has neither addressed the nation on this budding menace nor told the nation how it plans to nip the threat in the bud before it grows to become a full-fledged menace of the same magnitude with Boko Haram.
The economy is on a free-fall as stock prices have continued to plummet owing to the absence of a well-charted and articulated economic policy. As a result, investor confidence is on an all-time low and many potential investors have made for other promising climes to establish their businesses. Unemployment continues to ravage the youth demographic as our universities continue to churn out graduates in hundreds of thousands filling our cities with jobless graduates, who end up turning to unsavory options for making money.
The much-vaunted anti-corruption war has taken off albeit with cries of witch-hunting and bias on the part of the presidency and state prosecutors as some persons, being considered as ‘politically exposed’, are being hounded by the nation’s anti-graft agencies while many equally complicit persons in the mismanagement of state funds have been granted ‘amnesty’ by government on the grounds of hobnobbing with the president or being members of the ruling party.
It is in the wake of all these depressing developments that the National Assembly commenced a senatorial screening process for those nominated to occupy ministerial positions by President Buhari. It has been mooted that the highly anticipated list is lackluster and generally uninspiring. However, what offends the true and discerning patriot in all of these are the smooth but dubious rhetoric and largely unserious manner in which the screening cum confirmation process is being conducted.
It is very appalling that President Buhari – a man perceived as an icon of incorruptibility, after having affirmed to the entire country that he “belongs to nobody and everybody” and that even though “Nigerians have nothing to fear from him as a person, and everything to fear about the consequences of their actions”, would go on to nominate out of 170 million Nigerians, persons tainted with gross allegations of mismanagement of state funds for appointment in the cabinet of a government that rode to power on the premise of integrity and probity.
The circus that was called a senatorial screening process saw nominees and senators backslapping, high-fiving and exchanging jokes as if they were at a cocktail dinner or at a reception dinner for old friends. The lack of seriousness that characterised the proceedings alerted all perceptive viewers to the fact that the entire process was nothing but an extended charade intended to further hoodwink Nigerians that something germane was going on.
The right questions were left unasked and even when asked the questions were skillfully evaded by the nominees. The nominees were repeatedly indulged by the senators as they embarked on an evasive, and sometimes, long-winded rhetoric that wearied many a listener, while some were simply advised to “take a bow and go” without any form of screening.
While I have nothing personal against the person of erstwhile governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola SAN, who I have for long considered one of the brightest stars in the nation’s political firmament, I must say that his attempts at refuting the recent allegations of mismanagement of funds under his watch as governor, specifically his claim of ‘not signing any cheques’ and deliberate refusal to acknowledge that he, as governor, was the approving authority, left much to be desired, and also dimmed his trust as a public officer.
What do I say about the screening of APC scribe Lai Mohammed, and also APC Chieftain Chris Ngige? Those two incidents struck me as more of comical friends catching up than people appearing before a panel for screening. The inherent marginalisation of women in the released list is nauseating and very insensitive to the place and role of our mothers and sisters in the ministerial nomination.
7The total omission of the Nigerian youth which is apparent when one considers the age demographic that characterised the list of the nominees is another issue altogether as it exposes the budding conspiracy against the Nigerian youth with the youngest nominee in the list being 48 years old.
As it stands, Nigerians born within the bracket of the 1970s to the present have been effectively excluded from service and deleted from the membership of Federal Executive Council even though it is this same demographic that midwifed the electoral victory on which the present government stands with about 78% votes.
The absurdity is revealed when one considers the distinctly young ages of public officers in other African nations and across the globe. It is made more absurd when one considers the ages of the founding fathers of this nation when they started active participation in politics. It is also common knowledge that former governor of Cross Rivers State, Donald Duke was 38 years when he assumed office in 1999. Is it that Nigerian youths have suddenly become inexperienced and useless as a whole all of a sudden? Is this the Change Nigeria unwittingly voted for?
If these are signs of what is to come, it takes no soothsayer to know that contrary to the promises made during the campaign and also contrary to the rhetoric being dished out in press statements by the presidency’s spokesmen, Nigerians are in for more of the very same dish that they have been served for over three decades by the political leadership. Like someone wittily observed, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. Nigerians are a patient people; they have waited for decades, and are now being chided for being impatient with the new administration. Wait for security, wait for power, wait for good roads and wait for an upright government to handle the affairs of state. It brings to mind a 1953 play written by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot.
Are Nigerians being asked to be like Vladmir and Estragon, who sat around stupidly, passively and ignorantly waiting in vain for a Godot, who never showed up? Is the call for patience and time a way of encouraging the Nigerian masses to remain passive and ignorant regardless of the cost to the nation and the generations to come?
I am constrained to echo the words of John the Baptist, who sent word from prison to inquire of Jesus: “Are you the messiah spoken of in prophecy, or do we await another?” Like Nigeria, the nation of Israel had languished under the jackboots of oppressors and under dark clouds of corruption at the hands of the priesthood, and the common man in the Israel of that era. The people looked into their scrolls, which spoke of the coming of a redeemer, who would bring liberation and emancipation to Israel.
Like Israel, Nigeria has long sought her liberator too. I therefore also ask of President Muhammadu Buhari, “Mr. President, the honeymoon is over, are you the change we seek or should we seek another?”
-Ajulo is the national spokesperson of the Labour Party
Two other political parties, the Labour Party and Progressive Peoples Alliance, have joined the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, in refusing to hang the portrait of President Muhammadu Buhari in their respective secretariats.
Abdulkadir Salami Labour party (LP) Chairman
The two parties hinged their decision on the action of the ruling All Progressives Congress, which before it came to power, allegedly refused to hang the portrait of former President Goodluck Jonathan in its national secretariat.
Both the LP and PPA stressed that their action was a payback for the APC.
This is as chieftains of the PDP expressed divergent views on their party’s action, which was announced by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, on Tuesday.
“We will never hang his (Buhari) portrait in this office, because President Buhari is not known to our party. He is not a leader of our party and, therefore, we will never put his portrait here. We are a political party, very partisan and therefore, we are not going to hide that,” Metuh had told our correspondent on the telephone.
One of our correspondents, who visited the national secretariat of the PPA, situated along Emeka Anyaoku Street, Area 10, Garki Abuja, on Friday, observed that the President’s portrait was conspicuously missing.
The National Chairman of the party, Mr. Peter Ameh, explained that the APC blazed the trail of “subtle civil disobedience” when it was in opposition.
Ameh said, “Your storyline should be whether the APC had the photograph of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. They did not. And that is the story; the APC did not have Jonathan’s portrait in the party’s national secretariat.
President Buhari
“Everything is about precedent. Throughout Jonathan’s tenure, the APC didn’t have his photograph; so, may be other political parties are also learning from the precedent set by the APC. They are following in the footsteps of the party during the last administration.”
A similar situation obtained at the national secretariat of the LP also situated in Garki.
The National Chairman, LP, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, said the party did not have Buhari’s portrait, noting that apart from the fact that the APC never accorded Jonathan such respect, the new administration had failed to make the official portrait of Buhari available to it.
Abdulsalam said, “We don’t have the photograph of President Buhari in our secretariat because the APC never had the photograph of ex-President Jonathan in their offices.
“We are supposed to get it but we don’t. The fact of the matter is that the Federal Ministry of Information should have called us, not only political parties, to say that the President’s photograph is available at the Federal Ministry of Information and that all organisations should apply for it.”
Meanwhile, top chieftains of the PDP have expressed divergent views on the position espoused by Metuh.
A stalwart of the party in Oyo State, Senator Lekan Balogun, said hanging of the President’s portrait should not be an issue to Nigerians.
Although he questioned PDP’s position on it, Balogun, however, said that if the constitution did not back hanging of the President’s portraits in all places, discretion should be exercised in doing so.
He said, “If it has become acceptable by the years, it is left for anybody to hang it. It will sound partisan to the extreme. It is not a constitutional requirement, but the PDP should not be the party that will reject hanging the President’s portrait, bearing in mind that when Goodluck Jonathan of the party served as President, everybody put his portrait in their offices at the time.
“Unless you can prove that when Jonathan was ruling, the APC did not hang his portrait, it should not be an issue. It is the kind of thing Nigerians play on.”
A prominent member of the party from the state, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), refused to comment on the issue. He told our correspondent that if the PDP had taken a position on the issue, he would rather not comment on it.
The Chairman and the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kwara State chapter, Iyiola Oyedepo and Rex Olawoye, however differed with Metuh.
In separate telephone interviews with one of our correspondents in Ilorin, they stated that Metuh’s position was wrong, adding that as the President of Nigeria, Buhari’s portrait should be everywhere and that he deserved to be respected.
However, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai Mohammed, dismissed the controversy as “a non-issue.”
A constitutional lawyer, Fred Agbaje, who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH in a telephone interview, described the practice of displaying presidents’ portraits as a civic responsibility embedded in the constitution.
According to him, though the constitution does not expressly provide that the President’s portrait be hung, failure to do so in public places amounts to reneging on a civic responsibility, which is a constitutional requirement.
He said, legally, by one of those old 1960 laws, which we inherited, we are supposed to do that (display presidents’ portraits). “Even if it is not part of our constitution, it is part of our civic duty under the constitution that all public places should display the portrait as a mark of respect for constituted authority.”
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Ngige, similarly told SUNDAY PUNCH that although the constitution did not explicitly provide that the President’s portrait must be hung, it had become a universally accepted convention as a sign of accordance of respect.
The Labour Party declared on Sunday that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government will find it difficult to achieve meaningful success in its current anti-graft war if it fails to appoint an Attorney-General of the federationand Minister of Justice without further delay.
General Buhari
The General Secretary of the party, Mr. Kayode Ajulo, who stated this at a news briefing in Abuja, described the AGF as the adviser to the Federal Government on legal issues and also the Chief Law Officer of the federation.
According to the party, the office of the attorney-general remained the only post among the ministers that the constitution created differently and noted that his input was essential to give focus and direction to Buhari’s anti – corruption crusade.
The LP scribe said, “The constitution recognises that the President cannot know it all. He needs some special advisers, he needs ministers. At the moment, President Buhari takes decisions based on impulse and he cannot run a government like that.
“We know that he came to power based on his anti-corruption position as a result of his principles which we agreed with but he cannot do it alone. As of today, it’s Buhari and his wife that are ruling this country; we don’t have to deceive ourselves.
“At least, we have the office of the President and that of wife of the president. That is why Nigeria government seems to be in comatose.”
Ajulo, an Abuja based legal practitioner, also noted that the police report on the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Order might not see the light of the day because there was utter disregard for lay down procedure, before and after the investigation.
He alleged that heads of anti-graft agencies were currently operating based on speculations, rumours and permutations because there was no chief legal officer to guide and give them direction based on the provisions of the country’s laws.
He said, “Who is advising the police to carry out the investigation (on forged senate rules)? Who lodged the complaints in the first place? When the country has an attorney-general, he will be able to advise on what to do.
“Now the police had done the investigation (on the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Order 2015), how will they go about it? Who has the fiat to order the prosecution of those allegedly indicted?”
The LP scribe noted that the report of the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Order 2015 would continue to be a rumour until an attorney-general, who would appropriately advise the government on what to do about it, was appointed.
He described as unnecessary the idea of setting up of a special court to handle corruption cases because, according to him, there are judges in the current judicial system, who specialise in treating corruption cases.
Ajulo added that the judiciary had a way of covertly designating the courts on their own, saying there wouldn’t be any need for overt designation by tagging some courts as corruption courts.
The Labour Party, in its reaction to the decision made by the President, Muhammadu Buhari over the sacking of the service chiefs, said on Monday that Buhari acted in a hurry.
Buhari
The National Chairman of LP, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, in a statement in Abuja, said, “It is my candid opinion that Mr. President should have exercised a little restraint in sacking the service chiefs; he should not have taken that action in a hurry. He should have considered the totality of what is on ground. But the fact of the matter is that his action may have also been informed by the security report he had. We do not know what is available to him, which made him take that action hastily the way he did it.
“But whatever the information in possession of the President, it is our candid opinion that the President should have waited for some time, to still try the service chiefs before they were bundled out of office. Buhari should have waited because he seems to be acting on the basis of trial and error. Probably, they must have advised him regarding the removal of checkpoints.
“Buhari made pronouncements and removed the checkpoints; no sooner had he removed the checkpoints, then insecurity escalated and Boko Haram started unleashing terror. The government had to eat its word and returned the checkpoints. It is not good enough for a government that has been advocating change.”
But security experts endorsed the sack of the former service chiefs by the President, noting that the sack had been long overdue.
A retired Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav, noted that the former service chiefs were partisan, stressing that Jonathan “spoilt them with money and there was no control or supervision.”
He noted that the new service chiefs might perform better than their predecessors, adding that he learnt that the new chiefs were core professionals.
A security analyst, Ben Okezie, said the sack of the erstwhile security chiefs was the right thing any new Commander-in-Chief would do.
Okezie said, “Sacking the service chiefs is the right thing any new Commander-in-Chief would do. Why it was delayed was because they were prosecuting an asymmetrical war and the President was understudying them so that he could know how to plan with the new security chiefs.
“I don’t know much about the new security chiefs until we study their antecedents and know their track records. Using the NSA to judge the others, one can say Buhari must have done his research well before appointing them. The appointment of the NSA shows that the President knows what he is doing.”
Also, the National Coordinator of the All Progressives Congress United Kingdom, Mr. Ade Omole, commended Buhari for sacking the service chiefs.
“It will help boost the morale of our valiant soldiers who are battling Boko Haram,” Omole said.
‘Buhari never removed checkpoints’
But Adesina said Buhari never ordered the dismantling of military checkpoints, contrary to the stories making the rounds.
He said the President’s directive was that soldiers should be removed from checkpoints located in non-essential areas.
Adesina said, “Military checkpoints were never taken away in the first place. I was at that meeting where the President gave an instruction on what to do with the military checkpoints. He never said they should be dismantled.
“What he said was that they should remove soldiers from checkpoints in non-essential areas. The President gave an account in that meeting. He said one day before he became President, he was coming from Minna and shortly before entering Abuja, the many lanes on the road merged into one lane and there was a long traffic.
“He said when he eventually got to the point where the problem started, he saw one soldier who stood there and was just controlling traffic. He said he parked and introduced himself to the soldier and asked him if what he was doing was effective because he was just waving vehicles to pass.
“So, the President said if those manning the checkpoints had equipment to detect things, it is better. He said they should remove soldiers from non-essential checkpoints because the soldier that he saw was not better than a traffic warden.
“He said they should not reduce soldiers to traffic wardens when they can use them in some other places. Checkpoints were never dismantled.”
The President’s spokesman said it would be wrong and unfair for anybody or group to insinuate that Buhari had not been concerned about the increasing cases of attacks by members of the Boko Haram sect in parts of the country.
He told one of our correspondents on Monday that the Buhari administration was determined to end the insurgency as soon as possible and that a lot was being done to achieve this.
He said the Monday’s change of the nation’s service chiefs and the NSA by the President was also part of the strategies aimed at tackling the sect.
He said, “A lot is being done by this administration to end terrorism in affected parts of the country.
“This rejig of the security apparatus is not unconnected because fresh impetus and energy will be needed to tackle insurgency.
“So, nobody can say this government is not concerned about the spate of bombings and killings. Nobody can say that this government is not determined to end insurgency.”
Adesina said the President had spent the better part of his first two weeks in office working hard to find a solution to the problem.
No word from new chiefs
The newly-appointed service chiefs and the new NSA on Monday declined comments on their new status.
Shortly before their appointments were formally announced, they were summoned to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, for a meeting with President Buhari.
While that meeting was going on, the former NSA, Dasuki, was driven into the premises.
He went into the President’s office and left after about 15 minutes.
While the meeting was underway, the appointments were made public.
By the time they emerged from that meeting with the President, the new service chiefs and the NSA declined comment when State House correspondents approached them.
When they were asked what they would be bringing on board, especially with the increasing cases of attacks in parts of the country, the NSA pointed to the new CDS.
The CDS however kept mum. But when reporters persisted in hearing from the new men of power, the new NSA simply said, “We will talk later” and walked briskly out of the premises.
Retirements loom in the Army
The appointment of Buratai as the new Chief of Army Staff would lead to possible retirements in the Army because there is a difference of five years in hierarchy between the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, and his successor.
Apart from a few members of the Course 25 who are still in the service, there are also other officers from Courses 26, 27, 28 and 29. Buratai’s emergence may affect some of them.
Investigations revealed that about 30 major generals who are either senior in hierarchy or who belonged to the same course as Buratai may retire from the service.
It is the tradition of the Army that a senior is not left in the service to salute his subordinate.
A source, who confided in one of our correspondents, said that not all the major generals in that hierarchy would go as some of them who are junior to the Chief of Defence Staff, who is of Course 26, could be moved to the Defence Headquarters and other tri-service institutions of the Armed Forces.
However, the situation could be different in the Nigerian Navy where the new chief, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, who belonged to Course 26 and the predecessor, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, of Course 24, have only a few officers between them.
It was learnt that about five senior officers between the two were retired recently thereby giving the indication that the appointment might not culminate in retirements in the Navy.
A similar situation obtains in the Air Force as the new chief, who belonged to the Cadet Military Training, Course 5, is rated as a Course 26 member, which is the immediate junior to his predecessor, Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu, of Course 5,
A security source said on Monday that all those who belonged to the same Course as the former Air Chief would retire with him, except Air Vice Marshal Monday Morgan, who has been appointed the new Chief of Defence Intelligence.
The National Secretary of Labour Party, Mr. Olukayode Ajulo, has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s inaugural speech as vague and not far- reaching enough based on the expectations of Nigerians.
National Secretary of Labour Party, Kayode Ajulo
Ajulo, who was making a critique of the President’s policy highlights as contained in his speech said for failing to speak on such burning issues like unpaid salaries of Nigerian workers and how to improve the socio-economic conditions of the ordinary man, Buhari seemed far from reality.
Buhari had said in his speech said that apart from insecurity, another key issue that will attract priority of his administration is dealing with corruption. He assured that though the Federal Government can not interfere in the operations of other tiers of government, he will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked.
“As far as the constitution allows me I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. For I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch,” he said.
However, in a statement issued Sunday, Ajulo said President Buhari needs to be reminded that election campaigns are over and that he should stop sounding as if he is still wooing the electorate for votes.
“Agreed, the President’s speech could not have covered every conceivable issue; however, the commander-in-chief cannot brush these issues aside because all key stakeholders want to hear from him, it is from him that they take their cue respectively.
“Having read and listened to the inaugural speech of General Mohammadu Buhari even with high expectations, one can deduce that Mr President conspicuously refused to dwell on burning issues like unpaid salaries of Nigerian workers who are groaning in pains with no respite on sight,” he said.
The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the Labour Party, in conjunction with its national headquarters, Abuja, has suspended 11 of its members and expelled five of its former state executives members.
A statement signed by the party’s state chairman, Prof. Ekeng Anam-Ndu; state secretary, Elder Utip Etiebet, and endorsed by the National Deputy Chairman, Mr. Calistus Okafor, in Uyo on Saturday, said the affected persons were investigated and found to be guilty of anti-party activities and display of unwarranted impunity.
The party, accordingly advised the general public to be cautious in dealing with the persons affected, especially in matters relating to Labour Party.
“These people are no more our members and they should not be seen as representing the party anywhere. Anyone dealing with them in the name of our party does so at his or her own risk,” the statement read.
The party maintained that it had begun the process to challenge the outcome of the “fraudulent and miscarriage so-called election of April 11, 2015 at the tribunal,” the party added.
According to the party, the decision to suspend and expel some of its erring members is to bring sanity to the party.
Okafor said those expelled from the party were members of the former executive that had been dissolved.
“I am empowered by the National Executive Council of our great party, the Labour Party, to endorse the suspension of recalcitrant members and expulsion of the former executive members, who are bent on tarnishing the image of the party. We cannot allow such impunity to happen,” the LP said without specifying the offences committed.
“The state executive of the party has been empowered to institute a caretaker committee in each of the affected local government areas.”
The Labour Party has urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to be more focused on a programme of action instead of making dictatorial and anti-democratic pronouncements, while pretending to be democratic.
National Secretary of Labour Party, Kayode Ajulo
The party which responded to the move by APC to prevent members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from defecting to the APC, said doing so would be undemocratic and autocratic.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the National Secretary of the party, Kayode Ajulo, said the statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the APC showed that the party is bereft of knowledge of rules and norms guiding party membership.
“For the avoidance of doubt, no registered party has the power to shut its doors against Nigerians, especially a registered party. And in any case, it is rather preposterous that an APC that was cobbled out of a motley array of parties, including defectors from PDP is now the one pretending as if it is different from PDP.
“We stand to be corrected that many in the APC who now pride themselves as progressives were actually former PDP kingpins. Senator Bukola Saraki, Mallam El-Rufai, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Barnabas Gemade, Jeremiah Useni and a host of others were staunch PDP leaders.
“For us in the Labour Party, the APC is nothing more than the New PDP. It is indeed interesting that a party like APC with antecedent of political prostitution, transfiguration and serial metamorphosis is now the one coming out to play ‘Mr. Clean.’
“The history of the core APC has been that of migration from platform to platform and donning of ever changing Toga. A break away from the original PDP at its birth in 1998, the party first emerged in its infancy as Alliance for Democracy (AD), then in 2006 it became Action Congress (AC), in 2010 Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) before again finally becoming APC.
Nigerian political history has not shown a more unstable platform than this gargoyle of a party.
“Instead of engaging in distractions and frivolities, our advice to the APC is that they should pay more attention to how to fulfill their campaign promises.
The APC should advise its leadership and the president-elect to be more focused on programme of action instead of making dictatorial and anti-democratic pronouncements.
“It is obvious from the attack on the PDP that the APC is merely trying to cover up its quest to make Nigeria a one-party state. A party that wooed to its ranks on the eve of election two sitting governors and deputy governor cannot now come out as champion of purity of platform. Like everything about this party, that is another marketing strategy.
“They are merely trying to condition and psychologically bully Nigerians into believing that everybody wants to be party of APC, which is far from the truth. In the real sense, this party of pretenders and chameleons is ambling towards one party state and civilian dictatorship.
“We know the signs and we have seen the signs. Nigerian masses must wake up to this knowledge.”
On our part in the Labour Party, we are convinced that what Nigeria needs most at this time in our history is not the political shenanigans that hold sway, but rather robust ruling party and robust opposition, and we are not going to be found wanting.”
The National Secretary of the Labour Party, Kayode Ajulo, has said the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, would encourage coup plots in Africa if elected president of Nigeria.
Mr. Ajulo, who made this known in a statement on Sunday, therefore, urged Nigerians not to vote for Mr. Buhari, saying the APC presidential candidate scuttled democratic rule in the country.
“With Buhari as President of Nigeria, other African nations will experience coups because a former dictator will always encourage coup d’etat,” said Mr. Ajulo.
The LP chieftain also accused Yoruba leaders supporting Mr. Buhari of going against the late Obafemi Awolowo.
Mr. Ajulo said participants at a South West summit held Wednesday in Ibadan are the real enemies of the Yoruba race.
He condemned in strong terms, the summit’s assertion that only a bastard Yoruba would vote for President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 presidential election.
The lawyer said the former Premier of the Western region fought for the restructuring of and true federalism in Nigeria all his life. He said Mr. Jonathan was committed to implementing the outcome of the 2014 National Conference including the recommendations for restructuring and true federalism.
“These were the things Papa Awolowo fought for all his life. There has never been a time when the country is close to implementation of true federalism than now,” Mr. Ajulo said.
“We have never been so close to restructuring of Nigeria than now and those who are opposed to the re-election of President Jonathan are enemies of the Yoruba people and by extension, Pa Awolowo.
“The last public outing and the speech he made before his death was about restructuring of Nigeria and true federalism,” Mr. Ajulo said.
The Labour Party chieftain alleged that some Yoruba leaders were colluding with some Northerners to scuttle the process of restructuring Nigeria.
He said although Nigeria needed change, the change has nothing to do with a personality but with the structure the country has been operating over time.
He also argued that with the calibre of people surrounding Mr. Buhari, it would be impossible for the former head of state to fight corruption.
Political parties in Ekiti State at a stakeholders meeting on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding to ensure peaceful conduct of the 2015 general elections.
According to the Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, the MoU organised by the Nigeria Police Force in Ado Ekiti is aimed at avoiding scars of agony, makes, discord and enmity after the election.
He expressed worries that politicians these days cared less about the credibility of elections.
“All that matters to them is attainment of political office, somehow and anyhow. More worrisome is the instigation of violence by political office seekers that sometimes lead to loss of lives, physical injuries and destruction of properties.
“It is disheartening that while most of us treasure and pamper our children and wards, we exploit the ignorance, poverty and the myopic view of other people’s children using them to carry arms, cutlasses and various weapons to fight our perceived political opponents. This without mincing words is a sin against humanity and against God.”
The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of zone 8, Christopher Dega, at the event stressed the need for the election to be free of rancor, acrimony, I’ll feelings, bad blood and other things that could undermine the credibility of the election.
“The Inspector General of Police (Suleiman Abba) has advised on the need to maintain decorum, exercise caution and restraint as we go into the election. It is important you play the game according to the rules.”
The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ekiti, Mr. Sam Olumekun, advised politicians against killing people to occupy public offices.
Governor Ayodele Fayose, at the event assured of purposeful leadership to promote peace.
He said, “Four years is a short time in the life of a man. I won’t muzzle anybody. If you abuse me, I will abuse you back, it is all politics. If you abuse me and I can’t abuse you, I will look for somebody to abuse you.
“For a system to work, the leader must key into it. I will key into the peace process. I will respect and do everything to ensure it works.
“For this election, nobody will muzzle another person. I won’t ask for favour from the police. If my party won an election about six months ago, I do not have to muzzle anybody to win an election. I only need to improve on my chances.”
Meanwhile, thugs on Thursday reportedly stormed some communities in Gbonyin and Irepodun/Ifelodun local governments attacking the supporters of the All Progressives Congress and destroying the billboards and posters of its candidates in the March 28 and April 11 general elections.
The state Publicity Secretary of APC, Taiwo Olatubosun, while alluding to the attack at the stakeholders meeting commended the Police for their quick response to the distress call.
The Ekiti Police Public Relations Officer, Albert Adeyemi, confirmed the attack to our correspondent but said investigation was ongoing.
The APC spokesperson who later issued a statement said thugs armed with guns and machetes stormed Igbemo-Ekiti where they disrupted an ongoing APC ward meeting.
“A car belonging to ward chairman was damaged while several members were attacked in an orgy of violence that lasted several minutes. They came back in the night unleashing fiercer violence, abducting four members in the process.
“They started their raids from Ijan-Ekiti where they shot sporadically to the air. Residents scampered to safety as thugs went about destroying APC candidates’ billboard and posters.
“After Ijan-Ekiti operation, they headed for Iluomoba-Ekiti where APC ward meeting was disrupted. Billboards and posters of APC candidates, including the chairs and tables were destroyed before moving to other communities in Gbonyin to unleash violence,” Olatubosun stated.
According to him, the thugs returned to Igbemo-Ekiti at night in three Hilux vans backed by policemen shooting and destroying the billboards and posters of APC candidates, including those of Rotimi Odu, a member of the House of Assembly seeking reelection.
“They also visited Olatubosun and Odu’s homes. It was during their night visit that these men in military uniform abducted Chief Peter Akinsola a.k.a Pitoro, the senior brother of the Ward Chairman, Mr. Olusola Bello, Mr. Olujimi Ogunade and 22-year-old Adefemi Ojo.
“Investigation has revealed that the abducted men are illegally detained at Fayose’s task force office along Iyin road Ado Ekiti,” Olatubosun added.
Olatubosun said the thugs inflicted a machete wound on one Ajayi Temisoro, while a pharmaceutical shop belonging to Ogunade was destroyed.
He added that a high Chief in the town and one of brothers to Governor Fayose were seen with the thugs encouraging them and pointing to APC members houses.
The APC spokesman called on the security agencies to intervene to save the lives of abducted members while also urging the police to be even-handed in the current violence being unleashed on APC members by the governor’s thugs.
In this interview with OLUSOLA FABIYI and ADE ADESOMOJU, pioneer and outgoing National Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanywanwu, spoke on the alleged plan by Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State to leave the party for the Peoples Democratic Party and why his party will support President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid
Outgoing National Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanywanwu
Why is the constitution of the Labour Party made so loose that there is no tenure for the chairman and other elected officers?
It was a deliberate action by the convention in 2009. In fact, that was the issue that was vastly debated by delegates at the convention. They said we should keep building the party and as people kept performing very well in the party, we would keep re-electing them until such a time when we had stabilised our structures and our activities, we could then put a time limit. And in any case, it is not government appointment.
When is the party going to be ripe for tenured offices?
That will be the business of the party. Maybe in the next convention, they may look at it again and say ‘OK, we have put the foundation in place, let us do this.’ I served two tenures and I feel I don’t need it again, that’s why I’m leaving. If I had wanted to do the third term, I would have won 80 per cent.
Some are of the view that you are leaving now because the fortune of the party is dwindling?
No. To the contrary, the fortune of the party is going up. Why is it dwindling? Any evidence?
You couldn’t win in Anambra State, you lost in Osun State, and the only governor you have is rumoured to be going to the Peoples Democratic Party.
No, the fact that we didn’t win in one doesn’t mean we won’t win in another. The All Progressives Congress lost in Ekiti, it won in Osun. Maybe where we will win is still coming. APC lost a sitting governor in Ekiti, another party won. It won Osun, maybe our own time to win is coming in 2015. So, it is not a question of losing here, and there. Yes, you may start with the areas that you are weak. By the time you get into the main election, you will now see the areas you are strong and those are the areas you will clear. So the party is very strong. The party is strengthening its structures. Nigerian workers are now fully committed to the party. You saw the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, you saw the General-Secretary, you saw the President of the Trade Union Congress at our NEC meeting, you saw the General-Secretary of the TUC. So we are moving for the total mobilisation of the Nigerian people towards the next election.
When you heard that the Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, was going to defect, how did you feel?
I have heard so many rumours on that. The first time I heard a rumour about it was immediately after the inauguration in 2009. As we were leaving the podium, I heard that he was going to ACN (the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria). I was confronted by journalists and I said he was going nowhere. They said again that he was going to PDP. So these rumours have been there. I’m not foreclosing his defection. I’m not speaking for him, but this rumour has been in the mill since 2009.
What I can tell you is that as of now, as I am talking to you, Governor Mimiko is a governor of the Labour Party and that was why you saw him in the NEC meeting of the party yesterday (September 10). It is never known to be the practice that the governors of other political parties attend NEC meetings of other political parties. The day he leaves the party, you won’t see him in the NEC. So that was why I made the explanation yesterday – he was there live and direct – and I put those questions to him and he answered.
So, if he eventually defects, will you be disappointed?
Why not wait until that happens? Why will I react to something that has not happened? Let it happen before you see my reaction. Until a woman delivers, she is still pregnant.
But you can do scanning to know the kind of clothes to buy.
No, we are not talking about sex. In fact, baby clothing has no sex. Forget about this modern thing of putting colours; when you are buying baby clothes, you buy them without considering the sex, because they wear the same thing until they are some months old.
So of what essence are the meetings the governor has been having with PDP chiefs both in the state and at the federal level?
I have not been attending such meetings as alleged and I am not aware. So I cannot comment on meetings I was not privy to or did not attend.
Why has the Labour Party refused to have presidential candidates? Are you planning to have one in 2015?
You are asking me a wrong question. Labour Party has never refused to have a presidential candidate. We do not manufacture presidential candidates. It is not like going to the factory to produce an object. Nigerians believe that they can only win presidential election when they join big parties with money. The last time, some people came, and when we asked them to pay nomination fee, they could not. They crashed out and attempted to blackmail the party.
Are you talking about Dele Momodu?
I’m not talking about anybody but I’m telling you the summary of what happened during the last presidential election. I don’t understand why someone could think he could wake up one day and contest for the presidency of Nigeria. Presidency of Nigeria is not for small boys. If you don’t have money, you must have people who will put down the money for you to be able to move from one state to the other, from one local government to the other, you cannot trek. It requires money. You have to open offices. In the riverine areas, you need boats to be hired and chartered. You don’t even have money for nomination fee and you want to contest for Presidency. Labour Party will not give ticket to such characters, who will go for presidential election and score 1,000 votes in a country of 170 million people. Such result in an election reduces the fortune of the party. I mean such result brings down the prospect of the party.
We heard the nomination fee was too high.
N10m was too high? For somebody who wants to be President of Nigeria; somebody that will drag the party up and down and do things on his own? N10m is too high? That person should go and run for councillorship or chairmanship position of a local government. I’m not sure it won’t reach N20m this year.
Why did you say so, especially for a ‘room and parlour’ party like your own?
Presidential election all over the world, whether in a communist society or capitalist society, is not a tea party. Take for example, in 2007, we paid agents N2,000 per polling unit, where we contested elections. In a presidential election, all parts of Nigeria constitute your constituency. We have 120,000 polling units and If you go by that N2,000 which is no longer realistic – in the last election, some parties paid N20,000, some paid N50,000 – if you go by that N2,000, it means a week to election, you will put down N240m just for agents alone who are there to protect your votes. And yet, there was someone who said N10m for nomination form was too much. You are nothing but a jester, who is not in any position to contest election. Presidential election in Nigeria is not for small boys. You must have the ways and the means to execute your plans. If you want to drag me out for campaign, you have to charter a jet permanently. If we are going for campaigns, state by state – there are times we will go to two or three states in a day – you must put a jet in my office for myself, officers of the party and yourself so that we can go to Osun, fly to Oyo, fly to Ondo and come back to Kwara. We can’t do that by road. That’s why I said presidential election is not for small boys.
That means the poor can never be president in this country?
The poor can be president of Nigeria. After all, there has never been any president in Nigeria that was very rich before he became president. But you must have backers who believe in you. Before you know it, they provide 100 vehicles. They may not give you money, some may pay for jet for one month. These are investments in candidates they trust and believe in. So it is not a question of I just want to run. You want to make mockery of a political party just as when we had 52 political parties – every Tom, Dick and Harry would go and obtain a form and submit to the Independent National Electoral Commission. They would now make the ballot papers so long that the logos of political parties cannot even be seen.
How did President Goodluck Jonathan become the candidate of the LP in 2011?
When we did not have a candidate, President Jonathan picked his phone and called me to ask for my support. I only asked him to give me time to discuss with my governor. We came back to the National Executive Council meeting, presented the request to them and they endorsed him because we didn’t see ourselves as not being part and parcel of making the Nigerian president since we didn’t have a presidential candidate.
Will you still be expecting his call as the 2015 election draws near?
In fact, I’m expecting a presidential candidate. If you have the ways and means, why not come and pick your form?
I mean are you still expecting the call of Mr. President?
No! I don’t like people to anticipate me.
Your governor said on September 10 that if the President declared, he was going to support him.
He is entitled to that opinion. I can also say the same thing.
Will that not amount to an anti-party activity when your party has not foreclosed having a presidential candidate?
No, no, no, if the party has a presidential candidate, and a governor is in the party, the governor will be part and parcel of the making of the presidential candidate. So, you cannot have a presidential candidate and you support another candidate.
But will the governor’s pronouncement not discourage anybody who intends to run on the platform of the party?
No, you are looking at the governor as the party.
Yes, because you have said both of you are the faces of the party?
Yes, but I have not said so (supporting Jonathan for 2015 if he declares). Governance at the state level is different from political party administration. Governor Mimiko never interferes with what we do here. He has never interfered. So the issue of whether he will support Jonathan is not something we should cry about now, it is what he is entitled to. Then, if you can get us a presidential candidate who has the ways and means, let him come, you will be shocked that we will fly a presidential candidate. But if we don’t have, the Labour Party will be part and parcel of the making of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The President is of the PDP. You support him at the federal level, but at the state level in Ondo State, where your party is ruling, you are not friends with the President’s party. How is Labour Party able to reconcile the contradiction?
How do you mean?
For instance at the last governorship election in Ondo State?
You see, a political party must participate in general elections. If a political party doesn’t participate in elections, the party becomes a non-governmental organisation. In Edo during Adams Oshiomhole’s election, we had a candidate strategically, but we moved all our arsenal to support Oshiomhole. Does that give you a clue? In fact, our candidate in that election was Oshiomhole’s cousin. That was strategic. So, most of these things you non-politicians see may not be how they are.
You had an agreement with Oshiomhole to support him, what was the condition for the agreement?
There was no agreement. It was just because Oshimhole is from our constituency (Labour). For his second tenure, there was no agreement.
You are referring to 2007.
Yes, it was an agreement that was truncated by the ACN and that affected our relationship. In actual fact, we should be in the same boat, but it seems we can never be. Those of us who have labour background don’t deal with people we cannot trust.
That means Oshiomhole as a person betrayed the Labour Party?
Well, it was the party, not Oshiomhole. Let me tell you, there are things the governor cannot do without the approval of the party or if those things are done, they will see it as anti-party. Maybe we were naïve when we entered into that agreement. But we were looking at a comrade who was part and parcel of our constituency. We were trying to bring working people into positions, then we fell into that trap and we had nothing to show for it.
What were the terms of the agreement?
Power sharing, recognition. Labour Party had no appointments or any benefit that came to the party as a result of the agreement.
It was the governor that had the power to make appointments, yet you blamed ACN.
It was the party that said no. You see, this idea of winner takes-all is what is creating tension in the land. When I made that comment years ago, Lai Mohammed called me and said this and that, and I asked him, did I lie? He said no but I should not have said that and I said why? You said you are a student of Obafemi Awolowo, I’m also a student of Obafemi Awolowo. Awolowo said in politics, there is no other name to call a thief other than a thief. He kept quiet. We were betrayed. We were cheated. But we don’t cry over spilt milk.
But the defunct ACN claimed the Labour Party also betrayed it in Ondo State. The party leaders said there was an agreement that Governor Mimiko was going to defect to ACN.
Let them produce such agreement, I have my own agreement. I have listened to it in the press some two to three years ago. There was no agreement. I am telling you authoritatively, there was no agreement. Even those who claim that they put money in Mimiko’s victory did not put a kobo. I have the register of contributors to Mimiko’s campaign. They did not. They contributed nothing.
Didn’t they also contribute to the prosecution of Mimiko’s petition at the tribunal?
Up till now, we still owe the lawyers. We still owe Wole Olanipekun and co.
Even for the 2007 case?
Yes, that’s what I’m saying, because we can’t just take the state money to pay for the governor’s petition.
How were you able to secure his (Olanipekun’s) legal service again in 2013 if you had not fully paid him for the 2007 case?
They are friends. Wole Olanipekun, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is a personal friend of Mimiko. You don’t abandon your friend because he has not paid you your bills.
The Labour Party and Governor Mimiko have always been accused by the PDP in Ondo State of truncating its chance of getting federal appointments in President Jonathan’s administration.
Mention one that we truncated. They just make loose statements. Anything I have said here, I gave you examples. I’m somebody who believe in empiricism. I don’t just talk because I want to get people to clap for me. They should have mentioned one instance where an appointment was meant for them and we took it. Let them mention one. There are noisemakers in the state who can say anything they like. They are the same people who have seen the man’s good and they are now trying to embrace him, running after him. Let us not listen to whatever anybody says.
We have heard you say you were offered N500m to truncate the victory of Governor Mimiko in 2007. Is it true?
I don’t tell lies when I’m facing the public. Even in my private life, I don’t. I try as much as possible to represent the truth.
How did it happen? Did it come from the PDP or APC?
Use your tongue to count your teeth.
You recently described President Jonathan as the most troubled President Nigeria has ever had. Why did you say so?
President Jonathan is the most troubled president, the most abused president, the most insulted president Nigeria ever had, and above all, he is the most patient president we ever had. Right from the day President Jonathan assumed office as Acting President, he has never had peace. I’m saying something that you know, I’m not fabricating. President Jonathan has never had peace. It’s been either somebody is killed here or there is a bombing there or they bombed one church and as he is going there, they are bombing another mosque. He has never had peace.
If you are saying he has never had peace, don’t you think it is time for him to go home and rest?
You see, if I have something like that in this place and I know why they are doing it, I will stick to my gun to prove a point that treachery does not pay. Your style may be different, as somebody who comes from a core trade union background, I know treachery, manoeuvering, vendetta do not pay. So, if I find myself in that situation, I will exhaust all my opportunities. If heaven wants to fall, let heaven fall, I will put enough men to hold heaven.
Your party is supposed to be in opposition, and is this not supposed to be an opportunity for you to put forward a presidential candidate?
If I’m in the opposition, it doesn’t mean that I have to be stupid. Opposition doesn’t mean stupidity. Opposition doesn’t mean you have to abuse your leaders. If opposition means stupidity, I don’t want to be one. As opposition, you have to rationalise your thoughts and your views in the best interest of the country.
There must be patriotic content in everything that you do. Opposition doesn’t mean stupidity or foolishness. What we are seeing today is stupid and foolish opposition. There is nothing done by the authorities that is right. Are these the people you are going to hand over Nigeria to? Such people can never lead Nigeria in our lifetime because they don’t have the capacity. They are looking for power for other reasons other than governance and enhancing the fortunes of the country.
You seem to be so angry with the APC
I didn’t mention any party.
Don’t you think the kind of support your party is giving President Jonathan, who belongs to another party, is only possible because your party is lacking in definite ideology, which seems to be the disease plaguing all political parties in Nigeria?
With the way you are asking me questions, it seems you belong to that opposition that you are referring me to because you appear to be concentrating so much on opposition and Jonathan. All the questions you are asking me relate to why I should not support him. You are rationalising why I should not support him.
I’m asking you questions.
No, you are asking the wrong questions. I have my reasons for supporting one person or the other.
You or your party?
My party also has its reason for supporting whoever it wants. It was reported that my good friend, Dele Momodu, went to Surulere to vote in a presidential election. You journalists reported that he went with his wife and four other members of his household. You people reported that he had one vote. I’m quoting your reports, which means that other members of his household did not vote for him. Did he divorce his wife and others when he got home? It’s freedom of choice. Everybody has his freedom. And that is why we are preaching that if you have your freedom, why do you think I should not have mine? That is part of the problems of the country
•Denies joining PDP as Nwanyanwu quits as LP chairman
By Chris Ochayi
ONDO Sate Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, has denied planning to leave the Labour Party (LP) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying he is not in a hurry to leave the party that gave him the platform to emerge as the governor of the state.
Governor Olusegun Mimiko
The polity, in recent times, has been awash with reports that Mimiko, who is considered to be very close to the presidency and President Goodluck Jonathan, had perfected plans to joining the PDP and that a sharing arrangement of political offices in Ondo state at the ratio of 60:40 had been sealed between the LP and PDP.
Reacting to the reports, Governor Mimiko urged LP supporters and faithful to discountenance the rumours of his impending defection to the PDP.
Mimiko, who made this known while fielding questions from journalists shortly after the National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of LP, in Abuja, said he was still a bonafide member of the party which gave him mandate to govern Ondo state.
He said if at all there is need to leave the LP, he will make it public. “I don’t react to rumours. If I am going to leave the Labour Party I will declare it openly,” he said adding that the report was a mere rumour and he still remained a strong member of the Labour party.
He stressed: “All the reports you hear or read are mere rumours and I cannot react to rumours. As you can see, I am here today to attend the Labour party NEC meeting. I will also be in Akure on October 4 when we will host the third National convention of our party.”
I’ll back Jonathan’s re-election
Mimiko, however, declared that he will support President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid for 2015 presidency if the president declares his intention to run.
He spoke as the outgoing National chairman of the Labour Party, Dan Nwanyanwu revealed that his decision to step down as the party’s chairman after leading the party for a period of 10 years was personal and to allow others to lead the party.
Nwanyanwu said that he would not present himself for re election at the party’s next convention which is slated for Akure on October 4, stressing that having played his part, it would not make any sense for him to remain as the chairman.
Reading the communiqué at the end of the NEC meeting, Nwanyanwu expressed the party’s appreciation for the renewed commitments from trade unions, NLC to work with the leadership of the party to promote and consolidate its ideas.
The party while commencing the efforts of President Good luck Jonathan and the military in tackling the problems of insecurity in the country also called for an improved efforts to ensure that other towns captured by the insurgents are reclaimed without delay to maintain the unity and indivisibility of the country.
It also shared the views of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, that government should add value to the fight against terror by ensuring that Nigerian troops are provided with modern weapons to confront the insurgents.
(Ondo State) There were indications yesterday that the executive governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko may, at any time, dump his political party, Labour Party, (LP) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Governor Olusegun Mimiko
Many of the chietains of the LP has over the months decamp to the PDP including close aides of the governor.
It has been reliably gathered that Governor Mimiko has been doing a lot of consulting with the leadership of the PDP and even met with the National Chairman, Alhaji Muazu, in Abuja on how he could come back to the party.
It was revealed that the governor as at yesterday met with the leadership of the LP in the 18 local government in the state to hint them of the development, but no report on what was discussed made available to the press.
According to the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Eni Akinsola who could not confirm nor denied the speculation, “If such thing is happening, you journalists will be the first to get informed, “he said.
However, a close associate of the governor revealed that the governor was already out of LP, adding that he had concluded arrangement to move to the PDP but only consulting with stakeholders at the state level.
“As I am speaking to you right now, Oga is already in the PDP. He will meet the leaders of LP from the 18 local government areas today (yesterday) to inform them and fashion out how they will all move, because if he moves out, definitely all of us will follow him, “he said.
It is obvious that if the governor left the LP party in the state, it would mark the extinction of the party in the state.
FOUR members of the House of Representatives elected under the platform of the All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA) and one elected under the Labour Party (LP), on Thursday defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), bringing the number of PDP members in the state Assembly to 10 out of the 11.
Map of Anambra state
Those who defected include former Anambra State governorship aspirant on the platform of APGA and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Environment, Honourable Uche Ekwunife; Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Capital Market, Honourable Chris Emeka Azubogu and the Deputy Chairman, Media and Public Affairs Committee, Honourable Victor Afam Ogene.
Others are member representing Onitsha North/Onitsha South Federal Constituency, Honorable Cyril Egwuatu and the Chairman, House Committee on Culture, Tourism, Pilgrimages and Religious Matters, Honourable John Olibie.
They were received into the party on Thursday, at Legacy House, Abuja by the National Chairman, Dr Ahmed Muazu and members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
Those who defected had earlier written to the national leadership of the PDP on their intention to join the party and requested for waiver to enable them to contest for any future elective position in the state.
Receiving them, Muazu expressed delight at the return of many of them who were formerly members of the PDP and assured that the returnees and new members will be treated with fairness equity and justice as if they had always been in the PDP.
He said: “I am very delighted. As I have said all the time, for those prodigal children of PDP that have decided to go wandering, that are coming back home, we welcome you.
He assured the new members of the support saying, “You are as old as me and we will treat you accordingly”
He observed that the PDP is the leading party that it is today because of its consistency and transparency.
According to him, “I want to assure you, the party you have chosen to come back to is not just the largest as they say, it is the most Democratic Party. We are the most transparent. In whatever we do, we try to make it clear and that is why we insisted since I came that those of you that a interested in vying for positions, please, the power does not lie in me or in the villa, neither does it lie in any of us in the Working Committee or the governors. It lies in the power of democracy, the power in the power of democracy, the power to elect by the people for themselves for the good of the people,” the party boss said.
Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has said that Labour Party’s candidate ,Opeyemi Bamidele, contributed to his victory in the June 21 governorship election.
Fayose, comfirmed this when he visited the LP secretariat in Ado-Ekiti where he met Bamidele and key leaders of the party.
Fayose
He said, “I want to thank you for making yourself available for Ekiti people as an agent of change through June 21 election. What you did is a replica of what I did in the past when I used the Labour Party to prevent a bad government installed by PDP then from continuing in office and we succeeded in putting APC in place.
I divided PDP and you divided APC all for good intents and purposes. But I thank God that he has used you to play a similar role today. The journey is not too far and you have what it takes to lead our people.
“By age, experiences and exposure, you are indeed a leader of your people. I have a lot of respect for you and that’s why I have called you more than 15 times after this election insisting on seeing you. I see you as a brother and a fellow fighter from the same side of the divide.”
Fayose, who attended the meeting alongside his deputy governor-elect, Olusola Ojo-Eleka, said Bamidele remained a reference point of integrity, service and voice of the voiceless in Ekiti any day.
He said the incoming government would need Bamidele’s wealth of experience in governance and politics to move Ekiti state forward.
“By all standards you are a leader and a gentleman, that’s why I have always identified with you even before and after you contested this election. In an election there must be one governor, so as far as I’m concerned, you have lost nothing in this race. You can only count your blessings. That’s why I felt you have fought a good fight and emerged a victor,” Fayose added.
Bamidele in his remark said the meeting was a turning point for Ekiti people and their democratic experience since politicians from various political platforms were beginning to come together to discuss the future of their people.
He assured that politicians from his party were ready to contribute their quota to the development of the state.
“Oshiomhole has failed us Instead of one man, one vote, what we are experiencing is one man, no vote.”
No fewer than 2,100 members of the All Progressives Congress and the Labour Party on Saturday in Auchi defected to the People Democratic Party.
Oshiomhole
Edo North Senatorial Chairman of LP, Mr Onasa Momoh, who led defectors from the party, said they were joining the PDP because it was an all-inclusive party.
Momoh said that the entire structure of the LP in the senatorial district had been collapsed to enable the members join the PDP.
He explained that the LP had in the past worked in alliance with the APC.
He, however, explained that such alliance had to end as the party never kept to any agreement reached with it.
He decried the victimisation, harassment, humiliation, and the deprivation of LP members’ right during last election in the state.
“We must put an end to cartels and individuals who have perfected the culture of greed and selfishness.
“We have chosen to join a party that is focused on creating jobs within a moral economy, a party that responds to the needs of the vulnerable,” he said.
Similarly, Chief Lance Momodu, who led the APC members that decamped, said they were PDP members who went on sabbatical to APC.
Former APC chieftain said they went to APC to give opportunity to Gov. Oshiomhole to lead because of his desire to lead and promise of change “but he has failed us”.
“Instead of one man, one vote, what we are experiencing is one man, no vote.
“APC is disorganised and running a one man show and also playing the politics of exclusiveness,” he said.
Receiving the defectors, the state PDP Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, described the defection of more than 2,100 people to the party as “historic”.
Orbih said that more so when the event was happening in the Local Government Area of the present governor.
He said that the decision was a blessing to the defectors as they had resolved to join hands with the party to fight what he described as “oppression”.
