The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said that he is not aware of any threat to his position.
APC National Chairman, Odigie Oyegun
Odigie-Oyegun spoke with State House correspondents on Tuesday evening at the end of a meeting President Muhammadu Buhari had with the leaders of the APC at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He was asked to react to the reports making the round that his position was being threatened.
“I am not aware that my office is under threat. I led the party to the State House. It (the report) amazes me, occasionally it annoys me. That is one of the things you have to endure when you are in a position like mine,” he said.
The former Edo State Governor said the party leaders discussed all the challenges that have occurred since the elections and decided on the way forward during the meeting.
He said, “It was a very serious meeting that discussed serious issues that have to do with the progress of the party.
“Basically, we are expecting the budget to be out, and once that is done, implementation of our policies will start.
“That is what we will use to deliver on our promises to the people. So we are waiting.”
On the disagreement among members of the party in some states, the party chairman said there was nothing strange about it.
“Skirmishes among party members are normal. We have set up a committee that is looking into all those issues and will resolve those issues,” he said.
He also said it was wrong to say that the present administration had spent one year when its first budget is the 2016 Budget.
He also said the monies recovered from looters would be deposited into the nation’s account.
“We don’t just recover money and spend it. When we recover money, it will go into revenue, it will be deployed appropriately with the normal legislative approach.
“Don’t say one year into the present administration, count this year because this is the year we are presenting our budget and implementation will start,” he explained.
Hope of resolving the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party over the emergence of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the party has taken another turn as two members of a group in the main opposition party have asked an Abuja High Court to compel Sheriff to vacate office by the end of March.
Ali Modu Sheriff
They are also seeking an order of the court to compel the party’s national leadership not to hold the forthcoming national convention until the membership register of the party is computerised as stipulated in section 8(11) of its constitution.
The National Executive Committee of the party had fixed the convention, which is to hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for May 21, 2016.
But the suit, dated March 8, which is aimed at stopping the meeting and the sacking of Sheriff, was filed by Mr. Nwosu Emmanuel and Mr. Eze Silas on behalf of the Restart PDP Group.
By implication, Sheriff and other members of the National Working Committee will be in office till May 2016, instead of March when their tenure ought to end.
Former ministers, who served during the party’s 16-year reign at the centre and the PDP Restart Group are, however, insisting that Sheriff and his management team should vacate office on March 31.
However, according to a copy of the originating summons, with suit number CV/1174/16, filed at a Federal High Court in Abuja, Emmanuel and Silas are the plaintiffs while the PDP, Sheriff and the NWC are the first, second and third defendants respectively.
Prayers being sought before the court is an order “restraining the 1st defendant, 3rd defendant and the current national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (Senator Ali Modu Sheriff) and all other national officers of the Peoples Democratic Party, whose tenure of office shall expire in March 2016 in line with the party’s constitution, from unlawfully extending their tenure of office beyond the mandatory four years term expressly stipulated in Section 47(1) of the constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party.”
They also seeking an order “restraining the defendants, all officers and organs of the 1st defendant from parading or further parading the tenure of office of the 2nd defendant or any officers or organs of the 1st defendant, whose tenure of office shall expire in March 2016 in line with the party’s constitution, as having been expired beyond March 2016.”
While asking the court for a declaration on the tenure of Sheriff, they noted that Sheriff “having emerged to complete the unexpired constitutionally-stipulated four years terms of the last former national chairman of the party and his immediate predecessor respectively (Alh. Adamu Mu’azu and Alh. Bamanga Tukur), whose tenure jointly ought to expire in March 2016, should vacate office in March, 2016 as any extension of his tenure shall contravene the provisions of sections 2 and 47(1) and (6) of the constitution of the party”.
Seeking an order to stop the May 21 convention, they pleaded with the court to compel the party to give effect to Section 8 (11) of the constitution, which provides that a membership register of the party should be computerised.
The plaintiffs asked the court to restrain “the first defendant and all its organs from conducting party congress and 2016 national convention or other further national conventions pending the computerisation of the party membership register as mandatorily stipulated in Section 8(11) of the party’s constitution.
Section 8 (11) of PDP’s constitution reads, “The party membership register shall be computerised to ensure control and to avoid fraud and all ward registers shall be closed one month to congresses.”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the case.
When contacted, the spokesman for the Restart PDP Group, Chief Jackson Ude, said the suit became necessary to ensure that the PDP allowed the constitution of the party to prevail instead of a “back-door agreement by few selfish individuals in the party.”
He added, “If the PDP constitution says Bamanga Tukur and Adamu Mu’azu’s tenure, which Ali Modu Sheriff is concluding expires on March 28, so be it.
“Let him and members of the NWC leave so the party can cleanse itself and begin on a new slate
“We must go back to the rule of law and the constitution. The impunity within the party is because few individuals decided on their own to jettison the constitution for their own selfish interest. All well-meaning members of the PDP must insist on the constitution.”
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff, on Monday dared his opponents, insisting that he would not quit.
Ali Modu Sheriff
The former governor of Borno State told journalists shortly after taking over from the Acting National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, at the party’s national Secretariat in Abuja, that those calling for his resignation were not as popular as him.
He specifically mentioned a former Governor of old Gongola State, Mr. Wilberforce Juta, who asked him to resign immediately.
Juta was the head of a group known as PDP Rescue Group, who had asked Sherrif to leave.
Some prominent members of his group include a former President of the Senate, Adolphus Wabara and a former Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Muktar Shagari.
Sheriff said that Juta had submitted himself for the selection process and wondered why someone he defeated would turn to the media and demand his resignation.
He said, “I saw the person who was reading the press statement, Amb. Wilberforce Juta. He submitted himself to the National Working Committee of this party, aspiring to be a chairman.
“Mohammed Wakil that you saw on the television also submitted himself to the Working Committee, to be appointed chairman.
“And votes had been cast. The man that was reading the press statement got one vote and he’s asking me to resign. Therefore, I will not resign.”
He said he would only tender his resignation letter if he was asked to leave by members of the National Executive Committee of the party.
Sheriff said, “The leadership of this party in their wisdom asked me to lead. If the NEC of this party collectively asks me to leave, I will leave.
“But not somebody who contested an election and got one vote; I think if there is morality, he should not even go to the television.”
The PDP chairman nevertheless asked his opponents to forget their grievances and work with him to build the party.
On the allegations that he was a member of the dreaded Boko Haram, Sheriff said it was wrong to tag him either as a sponsor or the creator of the sect.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh has reacted to the grumbles by some members of the party concerning the decision to select Ali Modu Sheriff as its National Chairman.
Ali Modu Sheriff
While speaking with NAIJA CENTER NEWS on Sunday, Chief Metuh disclosed that PDP members didn’t expect Sheriff as the party Chairman since he didn’t signify interest in the position.
He said that he believes in the new chairman judging from his experiences in politics.
Metuh took a swipe on the opposition members who decided to make this about them and Boko Haram, wondering how come Sheriff was not a member of the terrorist group, as alleged by some, when he was a member of the All Progressives Congress.
Metuh said “I think the choice of Ali Modu Sheriff was unexpected by some of our party people, and the first reaction we are seeing is the shock of surprise to the emergence being that he never declared interest in the contest. It is expected that people are a bit surprised at the turn of event.
“Haven’t said that, the basic thing is that the NEC committee has done its job. The constitution says a person will be elected from the North East zone, we have done that and everything was followed.
“The chairman has started well by saying he is going to reach out to other people in terms of reconciliation. He is starting well by saying he is going to look inward to make the party strong. Let the party members and the organs be much more united than they have ever been. These are good signs to mean that, because it is only when you are strong that you can get ready to face the competition outside.
Explaining why Sheriff selection is very important to the progress of the party, Metuh said ” We didn’t lose the election because our rivals brought something new. They didn’t bring something new, they didn’t bring a new candidate, a new set of people, they brought people with a lot of experience, and they brought a candidate who has lost election for four times.
Olisah Metuh
“What is needed now is practical politics. In terms of practicality, is he going to be effective, useful to the party? We ask that our members give the chairman time to settle down and bring out his own program for the party. He comes very experienced; he comes with a lot of political benefit and goodwill. He is a grass root politician. House of reps, three times elected senator, two times elected governor and wide network of contacts. Let us see how it goes.
“Alimodu Sheriff is not going to be the sole administrator of the party. He is going to be a national chairman with eleven other members of the National Working Committee. The NWC is going to work in hand with the Governor’s Forum, PDP leaders in the National Assembly, the Board of Trustee and other people to make sure we move this party ahead.
“Since we lost the election, we have done very well. We have won majority of the elections that was held since May 29. It means the leadership of the party is working well and Ali Modu Sheriff is joining that winning leadership of the party with his own experience, benefit and quality and together we will continue to build on it and make sure the party is built to face the challenges ahead”
Modu Sheriff selection has brought more gap between members of the opposition as many accused him of having links with the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram.
It was gathered that some members of the party are already withdrawing their memberships while the Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko who is the Chairman of the PDP Governor Forum, has intervened by inviting ex-ministers of the former President, Goodluck Jonathan for a discussion.
A video also emerged on the social media where Goodluck JOnathan described Modu Sheriff as a friend of Boko Haram.
Explaining to NAIJA CENTER NEWS, the National Publicity Secretary quoted a statement credited to the new party Chairman that he is not a friend but an enemy to the terrorist group.
Metuh said Sheriff was the APC Chairman Board of Trustee and he led ANPP into joining forces with other parties that brought about APC, and then he was not a member of the sect.
He questioned the sincerity in the sudden realization that the new chairman is a member of the terrorist group whereas two weeks ago, the APC was celebrating his planned defection both on social and print media.
“What i can tell you is that the national chairman has made a statement on Tuesday in an interview where he disclosed that he never had any contact or accepted them; he reported them to the police several times. He is actually their enemy in the sense that they killed his blood brother, killed the state chairman of his party, killed the gubernatorial candidate of his party in 2011, and there was a time that Boko Haram outlawed him and chased him out of Borno.
“There is a point that he made that is very important. He said nobody called him Boko Haram when he was in APC as chairman of the Board of Trustee, nobody called him Boko Haram when he led the ANPP into joining APC, nobody called him Boko Haram when they found APC and was working with them but the moment he came to PDP, they started saying he is Boko Haram, now as Chairman they tag him Boko Haram.
“But two weeks before he was nominated as National Chairman, there was a rumour that he was joining APC and he was being well celebrated in the social and print media by APC people. Suddenly, less than two weeks later, he emerges as National Chairman of PDP and they remembered he is Boko Haram. I can’t speak for him but he is saying categorically that he is being sponsored by the enemy of his politics.
Metuh assured that the choice of Sheriff will not bring more division, adding that the Chairman will add value to the party.
“I don’t think it will bring division. There will be no division, he has come to join the winning team, he has a lot of value to add and he is not a minor in any means.” He said.
The Peoples Democratic Party, which prides itself as the largest political party in Africa, may soon experience the mass defection of its leaders and their followers to other parties.
Ali Modu Sheriff
Prominent members of the party, including ex-ministers, are against the emergence of a former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as national chairman.
In recent times, some prominent members of the PDP had decamped to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
On Saturday, one-time Campaign Director of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Senator Dalhatu Tafida, announced his resignation from the PDP.
Tafida, who until recently was Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, explained that he was leaving the party because it had lost direction.
The former PDP stalwart announced his decision in an interview he granted the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation, monitored in Abuja.
Tafida said, “Before now, it performed creditably but now the party is only admitting people who are not supposed be in it. The party (as currently constituted) does not respect people like me. Those at the helm of affairs do not take advice and members behave the way they like.”
He explained that though he had yet to decide on his next move, he had not joined any other political party.
Similarly, a Second Republic Governor of the old Borno State and the governorship candidate of the PDP in the 2011 election, Mohammed Goni, expressed his displeasure with Sherrif’s emergence as chairman.
“I am uncomfortable and very disappointed that a character like Sheriff could be appointed as the chairman of the PDP,” he said.
Goni, who said he did not know how the party picked Sheriff as chairman, lamented that his choice might force many PDP members in Borno to seek an alternative.
He stated, “I do not see why a character that made a mess of our state should be foisted on the entire party. I and others in Borno PDP may have no other choice but to seek an alternative elsewhere.
“Sheriff has a burden of Boko Haram to bear. He left a legacy of crisis in Borno that the state is still battling with it.”
Our correspondents gathered that a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ojo Madueke, might also leave the party. A highly placed member of the party, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said Tafida’s exit was the beginning of what was likely to become an exodus from the party.
He said, “What Tafida said today is not different from what Ojo Maduekwe said during our last meeting. Madukwe expressed his reservations about how things are being run in the party, but his observation was rejected. Maduekwe may leave too.”
Some former ministers, who served under former President Goodluck’s administration, had on February 17 threatened to leave the PDP if Sheriff was not removed as chairman.
In an interview with The PUNCH, the spokesman for the former ministers and former Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, said the party’s reconciliation moves had failed.
A former minister in the party, who confided in SUNDAY PUNCH, said he and his colleagues would decide on the way forward during the PDP Former Ministers’ Forum holding on Tuesday.
The ex-minister said the majority of members of the forum wanted Sheriff to leave the chairmanship position.
He said, “Although the governors have been trying to pacify us, they have not succeeded as many of us are insisting that Sheriff should not be the chairman. At the meeting, we will take a stand on the issue and our decision will be communicated to Nigerians. It is too early to say this is what we are going to arrive at when we have yet to meet.”
Also, a former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory and Secretary of the PDP Former Ministers’ Forum, Mrs. Jumoke Akinjide, said a position would be taken on Tuesday.
In an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, she said, “I will not jump the gun over the issue of the PDP chairmanship position. The forum will hold a meeting on Tuesday where the matter will be discussed and a position will be taken. Those who will be attending the meeting have the right to voice their opinions because they are elder statesmen in their own right.”
When asked if she would oppose or support Sheriff’s choice, the former minister said, “It’s not a personal issue. It’s about the good of the party. I am not speaking for myself or for the members. The meeting will address relevant issues on Tuesday.”
Members of the forum led by a former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki, on Friday met with the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, to express their displeasure with the appointment of Sheriff.
At the meeting in Akure were a former Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi, Ms. Jumoke Akinjide.
A source at the meeting told our correspondent on the telephone that they berated Mimiko for allowing himself to be swayed by Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
The source said, “We told Mimiko that we were not happy and that we were disappointed in him for allowing Wike and Fayose to dictate to him. We also told him to step down if he could not stand firm. He appealed to us to be patient.”
In Borno State, mixed reactions greeted the appointment of Sheriff as the chairman of the PDP.
A member of the party, Bala Usman, said Sheriff was only living on past glory and had nothing to offer, especially in Borno.
He said, “We made the mistake of admitting him into the party during the last election and the rest is history. That outing was the worst in our history in Borno. I only hope the same fate does not befall us at the national level now.”
But another party member, Yusuf Ibrahim, said, “Sheriff’s appointment as chairman shows that he has something to offer. All l can wish for is that he performs well in this appointment by making our beloved PDP a success again.”
Jonathan’s congratulations
Meanwhile, sources in Sheriff’s camp said former President Jonathan had congratulated Sheriff. SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that Jonathan congratulated the new chairman on the telephone in the presence of members of the National Executive Council of the party.
A source at the meeting said, “Jonathan has congratulated Sheriff despite the protests by some members of the party. The former President told Sheriff to act like a father and unite the warring factions.
“Most of those who are accusing Sheriff are not members of the organ of the party. They do not belong to the National Working Committee, the Board of Trustees or the NEC. They are mostly ex-ministers who are not involved in the running of the party but want to dictate to us.”
•Mimiko sends chartered jet to Abuja • Embattled party chair pleads with ex-Minister Turaki •Ex-ministers meet Tuesday
Governor Segun Mimiko of Ondo State yesterday, on behalf of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors, launched a fresh initiative to save Senator Ali Modu Sheriff from being humiliated out as National Chairman of the PDP.
Governor Olusegun Mimiko
Mimiko, who doubles as chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, invited some former ministers in the cabinet of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to a meeting to beg them to accept Sheriff who was picked by PDP governors as the party’s new national chairman.
Many influential members of the PDP, particularly ministers in the Jonathan Administration, are uncomfortable with Sheriff’s leadership of the party, and are threatening to dump the party if the governors’ decision is not reversed.
The party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) is not disposed to confirming Sheriff’s nomination either.
The governor dispatched a chartered jet to convey the ex-ministers to Abuja for the parley but some of them declined to honour the invitation.
They opted to meet on Tuesday decide their next line of action.
The Forum of ex-PDP Ministers may be expanded to include those who served under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua .
Mimiko, investigations revealed, is greatly disturbed by the negative reactions sparked by Sheriff’s selection.
A well placed party source said: “In the last 72 hours, Mimiko has been personally reaching out to all the aggrieved ex-Ministers, state chairmen of PDP, Senators, members of the House of Representatives and members of the Board of Trustees(BOT).
“Today (yesterday), a chartered jet was provided by Mimiko to bring the aggrieved ex-Ministers to Abuja but some of them shunned the sudden invitation. A delegation led by ex-Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki (SAN), however, left for Akure.
“Mimiko is trying to pacify all groups in order to allow Sheriff to be in charge. He does not want the crisis in the party to degenerate further.
“The governor has been making calls to all those who are against Sheriff. He asked them to sheathe their swords. He is trying to save Sheriff. The truth is that Governors Ayo Fayose and Nyesom Wike led us to this mess.
“The ex-Ministers are however adamant. They have fixed a meeting for Tuesday to decide the next line of action.”
Sheriff himself has embarked on reconciliation shuttles to strategic leaders of the party.
For a start, he has paid a surprise visit to Turaki, who is coordinating the Forum of ex-PDP Ministers.
Another source said that Sheriff seemed to be monitoring the ex-Ministers’ meeting.
“Before the meeting ended on Wednesday night, Sheriff was already waiting in Turaki’s home. He begged the ex-Minister to prevail on his colleagues to give him the opportunity to lead the party,” the source said.
“The ex-governor assured Turaki that he would not disappoint the party if allowed to lead the party.
“But there was no concrete assurance from Turaki who said he would consult widely.’
Fani-Kayode explodes over Sheriff’s selection
Aviation Minister in the Obasanjo Administration, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said yesterday that he found Sheriff’s coming distasteful, evil and godless. Fani-Kayode said the former Borno governor is nursing an agenda to fly the party’s Presidential flag in 2019.
He said Sheriff’s selection as the party’s national chairman cannot stand.
He said: “As a consequence of this calamitous decision, we have, literally overnight, become a shell, nay, a shadow, of what we used to be. Unfolding events will prove my assertion true. I have no doubt that time will eventually prove me right and vindicate me.
“The bitter truth is that this arrangement is an affront against the Living God and it cannot stand. Yet, if it does stand, the party will pay a heavy price for it because it will inevitably lead to the end of the PDP as we know it.
“Imposing Ali Modu-Sheriff is an insult to all those that have fought for, led, served, defended, supported and risked everything for the party, at every level, over the last 17 years. Only the deeply malevolent can be comfortable with such an arrangement.
“It is evil. It is godless. It is indefensible. It is shameful, and as long as it stands the PDP does not have the moral standing or authority to criticise or condemn others. Those that made this decision behind closed doors and without proper or wide consultations have murdered sleep.
“They have not only betrayed the confidence that the rest of us bestowed upon them but they have also prepared the coffin for our great party and dug its grave. It is a tragedy of monumental proportions and I have little doubt that God will judge them for what they have done.
“Ali Modu-Sheriff’s long-term plan to highjack the leadership of the party for as long as possible, remain as National Chairman indefinitely and emerge as the party’s presidential candidate in 2019 will fail because it does not have the blessing of God. Time will prove me right.”
Fani-Kayode praised the BOT and state chairmen of PDP for rejecting Sheriff’s selection.
He added: “The truth is that appointing him as our Acting National Chairman is like appointing Jack the Ripper as the leader of the Conservative party in Victorian England.
“Kudos must go to the elders in the PDP Board of Trustees, a number of State Party Chairmen and a number of key individuals in the PDP Ministers Forum for taking a courageous and noble stand by rejecting and resisting the imposition of this abominable monstrosity.
“What Ali Modu Sheriff stands for and represents is utterly repugnant to every fibre of my being. Yet, I have no objection to his being a member of the PDP simply because politics is a game of numbers. It is a game in which everyone, no matter how big or small, counts. If you want your party to grow and make progress you must accept the good, the bad and the ugly.
“To this end, when he left the APC and joined the PDP sometime back, I was one of those that gladly welcomed him into our ranks and defended him in the public realm. This was at a time when others criticised the party for accepting him.
“Evidently, we have sold our birthright and heritage, not just for a mess of pottage like Esau, but rather for a free ride on a private jet.
“This is what a party that was once led by successive groups of seasoned and formidable intellectuals and great men of power, vision, courage and good character has been reduced to. This is what the party that was founded and once led by giants like President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Tony Anenih, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Aliyu Gusau, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, General T.Y. Danjuma, Vice President Abubakar Atiku, President Umaru Yar’adua, President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Bode George, Col. Ahmadu Alli, Chief E.K. Clark, Professor Jerry Gana, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Chief Ken Nnamani and so many others has degenerated to? What a pity! What a monumental tragedy!
“This is a party that once boasted of having in its ranks many promising and dynamic bright young stars that were collectively capable of shaking the very foundation of the civilised world and creating new frontiers and greater hope for the future of our people and our beleaguered nation. How are the mighty fallen.”
The newly appointed National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu- Sheriff has said there was no link between him and the dreaded terrorists group, Boko Haram.
Ali Modu Sheriff
Modu Sheriff whose emergence this week as the new man at the helms of affairs in the opposition party has been viewed by critics as a minus, said such insinuation about his sponsorship of terrorists exists only as a figment of the imagination of the authors of the blackmailing script.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with THISDAY, the former Borno State governor reminded Nigerians, he had also been a victim of the Boko Haram attacks which led to the death of his blood brother as well as other relations.
“Boko Haram wanted to kill me at a time because they believed that I was the one that reported them to President Umaru Yar’Adua to destroy their enclave. It was after I left government that they moved to their different camps and bushes. Why should they kill my brother? Why should they kill my family if I am a sponsor of Boko Haram? Is there anywhere in the world that you sponsor people to kill you?”
Sheriff said Nigerians should ask those out to blackmail him why they did not raise the matter when he was in APC, adding that it was immediately he left the APC that he was labelled Boko Haram sponsor.
“Let me give you a typical example. Just a week ago, all the social media planted my picture showing me with the card of APC joining the party. At that time, nobody wrote that I was Boko Haram. They said Sheriff was going back to APC; they were showing a card when we registered with APC before I left the party. We went to our villages to do it; that village they are showing on the social media was a village that was taken over by Boko Haram for the past three years. So, how could I have gone there to register?
“Few days after I became the Chairman of the PDP, Ali Sheriff is now Boko Haram; so if you are in APC you are not a Boko Haram. Throughout my period in APC, nobody said I was Boko Haram. Immediately I left the APC, I was termed Boko Haram,” he said.
Sheriff who was a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and one of its leading lights before he fell out with the leadership sometime last year, said he would have been prosecuted by President Muhammadu Buhari if the allegations against me were true.
“Nobody in my family or relation is Boko Haram or close to any Boko Haram member. These people that wanted to kill me, up till today, if they have the chance, they will kill me because they think I reported them to Yar’Adua who leveled their places of worship and along the line, their leader was killed.
“And that was my crime and why they wanted to kill me. But people that are afraid of me changed the story and they keep on doing it. Every day, they write different things but you and I know that nobody is above the laws of Nigeria. I believe that President Buhari, even if it is his son or blood brother that is a Boko Haram, he will arrest and prosecute him. So the allegation is the figment of the imagination of the writers,” he said.
On what he intends to do to restore lost hope in the PDP, Sheriff said he would hit the road as soon he concludes the handing over, pacifying aggrieved members, asking them to come back.
“It is a home they built and it is a home that they should not leave. I will visit the zones, I will visit the states and I will visit individuals whose sacrifices made the party what it was and insha Allah, we will succeed in rebuilding the party.
“PDP will be rebuilt, will be reunited, PDP will come together. I formed a party from the scratch that won elections all over Nigeria; the UNCP which was short-lived was built by me and we won elections all over Nigeria.
“I won election to the senate and 80 per cent of those that won election at that time were from UNCP. I, by the grace of God, with few other leaders like Jerry Useni who is still alive and Issah Mohammed built it together and it won election all over Nigeria. So, I have the capacity to rebuild PDP,” he said.
A pressure group in the Peoples Democratic Party, the Restart PDP Project, has said that former president Goodluck Jonathan was misled to support Ali Modu Sheriff as the party’s national chairman. The group stated that the party has no moral justification to select Sheriff as the PDP leader, describing him as a serial political defector.
President Jonathan
The Convener, Restart PDP Project, Emmanuel Nwosu, told journalists at a news conference on Friday in Abuja that Sheriff’s selection as chairman couldn’t stand, noting that the state party chairmen as well as other party members had rejected him. Nwosu argued that there were many experienced and loyal party members that could have been made the PDP chairman, insisting that the appointment of the former Borno State governor did not follow due process.
He said, “The people that planned and masterminded the ‘coup’ misled former president Goodluck Jonathan and the governors. There was a meeting a few weeks back; I was privy to that meeting. “A member was asked to brief the party and this young man deceived the party that there was no motion that struck out Uche Secondus’ case. The group told a blatant lie and misled the whole party.
“I am certain that Jonathan, having been engaged in various international assignments, would not have been properly briefed.”
The group said it was not canvassing support for any candidate, insisting that it only wanted the right thing to be done while noting that it was laughable and insulting to make a new party member the PDP chairman. Nwosu stated that Sheriff lacked the leadership capacity to move the party forward, stressing that what the PDP needed is a man who would galvanise it to success.
“Having been a long time party man, who knows the inner workings of Wadata plaza, Modu sheriff will leave and that is very soon. What the party needs is a leadership that would galvanise the party to success, it is clear that Modu Sheriff does not have the capacity to move the party forward and the party has no moral justification to make a serial political defector its leader,” he stated.
What on earth has happened to us? As the Book of Galatians in the Holy Bible asks, “who has bewitched us”? Over the the course of the last 17 years, in terms of the quality of party leadership, the PDP has gradually descended into the unceremonious cesspit of mediocrity. Worst still, with the recent appointment of Ali Modu Sheriff as our Acting National Chairman, we have chosen to spit in the wind, sleep with the dogs, dance on the graves of our fallen heroes, piss on the blood and bones of the slaughtered innocents and wallow in the filthy pool of compromise, deceit, doublespeak and shame.
On February 16, 2016, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) adopted Senator Ali Modu Sheriff (aka SAS), a two-time ANPP governor of Borno State, a former ANPP senator, the former Chairman of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Board of Trustees and the indisputable founder of Boko Haram as its Acting National Chairman.
Femi Fani-Kayode
Modu-Sheriff is also the erstwhile godfather and sponsor of Governor Shettima Ali, the present APC Governor of Borno State (until they fell out); he is a man that has a very deep and profound relationship and association with Idris Deby, the President of Chad and he is a man whose son is married to the daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Many have argued that his allegiance is more to the Republic of Chad than it is to Nigeria; that he is an agent of the Chadian intelligence agencies; and that he is a Chadian citizen who often flaunts his Chadian passport. I cannot confirm the veracity of these assertions but one thing that I know is that most of Modu Sheriff’s funding and stupendous wealth emanates primarily from the Republic of Chad, and that that country is as much a home to him as is Nigeria.
Yet, it is not his connection with Chad that give me cause for concern. Rather it is his role in the establishment of Boko Haram. The truth is that appointing him as our Acting National Chairman is like appointing Jack the Ripper as the leader of the Conservative party in Victorian England.
Kudos must go to the elders in the PDP Board of Trustees, a number of State Party Chairmen and a number of key individuals in the PDP Ministers Forum for taking a courageous and noble stand by rejecting and resisting the imposition of this abominable monstrosity.
What Ali Modu Sheriff stands for and represents is utterly repugnant to every fiber of my being. Yet I have no objection to his being a member of the PDP simply because politics is a game of numbers. It is a game in which everyone, no matter how big or small, counts. If you want your party to grow and make progress you must accept the good, the bad and the ugly.
To this end when he left the APC and joined the PDP sometime back, I was one of those who gladly welcomed him into our ranks and defended him in the public realm. This was at a time when others criticised the party for accepting him.
There is however a world of difference between accepting him as one of the many leaders of the PDP and appointing him as the Acting National Chairman. Others may seek to justify such a course of action but I cannot, in good conscience, do so. To me it is a matter of principle. If we accept this, then on what moral grounds did we condemn or oppose the APC or the APC-led Federal Government during the course of the last presidential election?
On what basis can we accept as our National Chairman a man who helped to create an organisation that wishes to establish sharia as the norm in our country, repeal all our criminal and civil laws, ban all our civil liberties and human rights, proscribe the teaching of western education in our schools, turn our women into sixth century sex slaves and abrogate the secularity of our state?
If we are comfortable with the likes of Ali Modu Sheriff leading us then on what basis did we criticise and oppose President Muhammadu Buhari for appearing to support Boko Haram when he said “an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north”? If we insist on Ali Modu Sheriff being our National Chairman then we may as well go and apologise to the APC for all our past criticisms and condemnations and join them.
On what basis can we accept as our National Chairman a man who established, encouraged, supported and nurtured an organisation that later metamorphosised into Boko Haram? This is a terrorist organisation whose ultimate objective is to turn Nigeria into an Islamic fundamentalist state by the use of terror and the force of arms?
On what basis can we accept a man to lead us whose Commissioner of Religious Affairs when he was Governor of Borno state, one Alhaji Buji Foi, was the de facto operational commander of Boko Haram? The man was later murdered by those closest to him after investigations into who and how Boko Haram was founded commenced.
On what basis can we accept as our National Chairman a man who helped to create an organisation that wishes to establish sharia as the norm in our country, repeal all our criminal and civil laws, ban all our civil liberties and human rights, proscribe the teaching of western education in our schools, turn our women into sixth century sex slaves and abrogate the secularity of our state?
On what basis can we accept as our leader a man who supported a group that wishes to suspend our constitution, wipe out the Christian faith and the practice of moderate Islam in our country and create an evil ISIL-type empire in our nation?
I really do wonder whether those that made this decision have lost all sense of rationality? I wonder whether they have lost their ability to see reason properly and to exercise their discretion in a logical, responsible and lucid manner?
I wonder whether they have lost their fear of God? I wonder whether they have forgotten the evil that was visited on our people, and is still being visited on them, over the last seven years by Boko Haram? I wonder whether they know at whose instance it was that Mohammed Yusuf, the erstwhile leader of Boko Haram, was killed by our security forces whilst in police custody in 2009 just so that he wouldn’t live to tell the whole world who gave him the funds to set up his murderous cult?
I wonder whether they have forgotten the terrible havoc that Boko Haram unleashed on our citizens? I wonder whether they have forgotten the tears, wailing and suffering of the bereaved. I wonder whether they have forgotten the slaughter of the innocents. I wonder whether they have forgotten those that were beheaded, those that were chopped to pieces and thrown down wells like dog meat and those that were burnt alive?
Simply put has the leadership of the PDP gone completely mad or are they working for elements outside the PDP? Are they suggesting that you need a godless Haramite to run the affairs of the party before we can ever win power at the centre again? Where is the patience and fortitude that is required from true leaders? Where is their faith in God? Where is their sincerity of purpose?
I wonder whether they have forgotten the savage and bestial rape, murder and abduction of the Chibok girls and all the other little girls that suffered a similar fate in recent times? I wonder whether they have forgotten that our nation is still at war with the bloodthirsty barbarians that committed these atrocities?
Since when did we, as a political party, lose our memories and jettison our moral compass in this way? Since when did we become so callous, shameless and insensitive? Since when did greed and the lust for power and money determine and motivate our every course of action? Since when did we throw away caution, decency and principle? Since when did we become so barbarous and uncivilised?
Since when did so few make a decision that will affect the lives and fortunes of so many in a profoundly negative way? Have we forgotten about the priests and servants of the Living God who were crucified by Boko Haram at their own church alters? Have we forgotten those that had their homes, schools, churches, mosques and properties pillaged, robbed and burnt to the ground by this group of godless Phillistines? Have we forgotten that the international community, through the International Terror Index, has rightly described Boko Haram as the “most deadly terrorist organisation in the world”?
Have we forgotten those gallant young military officers who were killed at the war front whilst fighting this evil plague, all in their quest to keep us safe, to secure our borders and to protect our property and people? Does all that count for nothing? Is this the way to pay them back for their great sacrifice and their noble courage? Are we prepared to throw away all decency and morality just to seek favour with a handful of misguided mortals and in a futile attempt to win political power?
Simply put has the leadership of the PDP gone completely mad or are they working for elements outside the PDP? Are they suggesting that you need a godless Haramite to run the affairs of the party before we can ever win power at the centre again? Where is the patience and fortitude that is required from true leaders? Where is their faith in God? Where is their sincerity of purpose? Does the leadership of the PDP really believe that it has kept faith with the founding fathers of the party, those that trusted them with power and those that bestowed them with leadership?
There were so many other people that they could have chosen to lead our party from the North-East. There were people like Mohammed Wakil, Nuhu Ribadu, Bala Mohammed, Wilberforce Juta, Aliyu Modibbo, Ahmed Gulak and so many others that could have been appointed. These are all committed people with impeccable records of public service, high moral standing and good character.
Instead of doing so the leadership of the party chose to impose the most controversial, intellectually-challenged, morally-depraved and despicable character that they possibly could to lead us and when asked why they did so we were told that it was because “he has plenty of money to spend on the party” and no less than “5 private jets” to lend out to those who needed a free plane ride. Evidently we have sold our birthright and heritage, not just for a mess of pottage like Esau, but rather for a free ride on a private jet.
This is what a party that was once led by successive groups of seasoned and formidable intellectuals and great men of power, vision, courage and good character has been reduced to. This is what the party that was founded and once led by giants like President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Tony Anenih, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Aliyu Gusau, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, General T.Y. Danjuma, Vice President Abubakar Atiku, President Umaru Yar’adua, President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Bode George, Col. Ahmadu Alli, Chief E.K. Clark, Professor Jerry Gana, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Chief Ken Nnamani and so many others has degenerated to? What a pity! What a monumental tragedy!
Imposing Ali Modu-Sheriff is an insult to all those that have fought for, led, served, defended, supported and risked everything for the party, at every level, over the last 17 years. Only the deeply malevolent can be comfortable with such an arrangement.
This is a party that once boasted of having in its ranks many promising and dynamic bright young stars that were collectively capable of shaking the very foundation of the civilised world and creating new frontiers and greater hope for the future of our people and our beleaguered nation. How are the mighty fallen.
What on earth has happened to us? As the Book of Galatians in the Holy Bible asks, “who has bewitched us”? Over the the course of the last 17 years, in terms of the quality of party leadership, the PDP has gradually descended into the unceremonious cesspit of mediocrity. Worst still, with the recent appointment of Ali Modu Sheriff as our Acting National Chairman, we have chosen to spit in the wind, sleep with the dogs, dance on the graves of our fallen heroes, piss on the blood and bones of the slaughtered innocents and wallow in the filthy pool of compromise, deceit, doublespeak and shame.
As a consequence of this calamitous decision we have, literally overnight, become a shell, nay a shadow, of what we used to be. Unfolding events will prove my assertion true. I have no doubt that time will eventually prove me right and vindicate me.
The bitter truth is that this arrangement is an affront against the Living God and it cannot stand. Yet if it does stand the party will pay a heavy price for it because it will inevitably lead to the end of the PDP as we know it.
Imposing Ali Modu-Sheriff is an insult to all those that have fought for, led, served, defended, supported and risked everything for the party, at every level, over the last 17 years. Only the deeply malevolent can be comfortable with such an arrangement.
It is evil. It is godless. It is indefensible. It is shameful and as long as it stands the PDP does not have the moral standing or authority to criticise or condemn others. Those that made this decision behind closed doors and without proper or wide consultations have murdered sleep.
They have not only betrayed the confidence that the rest of us bestowed upon them but they have also prepared the coffin for our great party and dug its grave. It is a tragedy of monumental proportions and I have little doubt that God will judge them for what they have done.
Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Thursday said the new national chairman of the PDP, Ali Sherriff, would end up working for the ruling APC in 2019, against his claim that PDP would reclaim power in 2019.
Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje
Mr. Ganduje said this on in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists at the monthly APC media roundtable.
According to him, the new PDP chairman does not have the clout to restore power to any party.
Mr. Sherriff had on Wednesday said that he would ensure power return to the PDP.
“I do not wish to engage in cross fire, but I will like to tell you that it is the normal utterance of one who wants to impress his followers.
“I believe it is an empty threat. Looking at the antecedents, the history of the chairman himself, we all know he is a cross-carpeter.
“He is always on the move in changing from one party to another. Even when he was in All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP) for eight years, he was working for the Peoples Democratic Party.
“Even the APC started with him, and then he went back to the PDP and we were happy. I am sure in the long run he will work for us, and that is what I believe.
“We are happy because we believe in the long run he would work for us; find out his history, you will believe me,” he said.
On establishing state police, which some states have been clamouring for, the governor said the time was ripe to allow states to be in charge of their own policing and security.
“Given the situation we find ourselves, I think there is no better time we need the state police than now because the security at the moment requires intelligence information.
“It involves people who are conversant about the society, who are conversant with the tradition, who are conversant with the culture,” the governor said.
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, has hailed the emergence of former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), calling on all members and supporters of the party to support the new chairman.
Fayose vows to lead opposition against APC
Governor Fayose, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said the choice of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was in the best interest of the party.
He said; “I have always defended the party even at the risk of my position, personal security and comfort. I have always stood for the truth, and I cannot now be part of any decision that won’t represent the party well.
“I supported the processes that led to the emergence of Ali Modu Sheriff because I believe in him and for those who may be aggrieved for one reason or the other; I plead that they should sheath their swords in the overall interest of our party.
“Most importantly, the reality that we must all face is that we are in a peculiar situation and such a situation deserves a peculiar approach.
“What the party leaders have done therefore is to tackle the present situation in our party with the most appropriate solution and we must all stand by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, who is our present solution to our present situation.”
Speaking further, Governor Fayose said, “the All Progressives Congress (APC) knows Senator Ali Modu Sheriff’s capacity in terms of political network, being a three term senator and two term governor, and must be afraid that with such a person as the PDP Chairman, their regime of lies will be over soon.”
The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Governors Forum yesterday expressed confidence in the ability of National Chairman Ali Modu Sheriff, to reposition the party and make it more inclusive.
Ali Modu Sheriff
A statement by the Coordinator of the forum, Mr. Osaro Onaiwu, yesterday in Abuja quoted the governors as saying the choice of Sheriff, ex-governor and senator, came after a careful deliberation, given the battle ahead.
“Sheriff is coming on the job with immense wealth of experience and will, no doubt, use his vast network to rebuild the party.
“He will restore members’ confidence and act as a counterforce to the many antics of the present APC regime.”
The governors urged the national chairman to avoid all diversionary tactics and work toward uniting all aggrieved members and fashion out modalities to woo new party faithful.
“We urge you to shun all diversionary tactics that might be thrown at you and concentrate on how to bring all aggrieved party members together; as well as fashion out ways to woo new members, especially the youths.
“The forum is solidly behind you and will deploy its support to ensure that the shared vision for our party is realised as we prepare for 2019.”
The governors said the situation in the country was an opportunity for Sheriff to show that the PDP remained the only truly national party that could reunite the country.
LAGOS — Serving and former elected office holders on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, weekend, adopted resolutions to retool the former ruling party, including a decision to jettison the principle of zoning in the election of a new national chairman.
PDP
In its stead, the PDP bigwigs, including governors, senators, lawmakers and former ministers, at the end of a meeting in Lagos resolved that the principle of zoning would be adopted only after a formidable new national chairman with weight and integrity has emerged.
The PDP stakeholders met at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos at the meeting that was hosted by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and had Senator Biodun Olujimi as MC.
Senator Ekweremadu is the highest elected office holder on the platform of the party.
The meeting, Vanguard gathered, was essentially meant to frame strategies on how to push forward the party and also respond to the perceived actions of the APC which party stalwarts alleged to be acts of persecution.
At the end of the meeting, the governors, lawmakers and former ministers resolved to form a committee to search for a credible person to lead the party as national chairman from any part of the country.
The party stalwarts, it was learned, said the zoning of party positions at the forthcoming national convention would be hinged on where the person chosen as national chairman comes from.
“What we decided was to establish a committee to search for a formidable and credible national chairman following which all other national offices would be zoned,” a participant at the meeting said.
The committee so formed, it was gathered, would work with the Governor Olusegun Mimiko-led PDP Governors Forum on the choice.
Besides, the meeting also decided to constitute a committee that will help prepare the party to respond to what party stakeholders at the meeting described as the persecutions from the APC-led government.
All the party caucuses were present at the meeting. Ekweremadu led the PDP senators to the meeting, while Rep. Leo Ogor led the House of Representatives caucus and Governor Olusegun Mimiko led the PDP governors including Governors Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, Dairus Ishaku of Taraba, Ibrahim Damkwambo of Gombe, Deputy Governor of Delta State, Kingsley Otaru, among others.
The stakeholders were pleased with the presence of former governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke, who was making a presence at a national PDP stakeholders meeting for the first time in about eight years.
Meanwhile, the PDP national leadership yesterday said that the alleged persecutions of the APC led administration were making the party to become stronger.
The party said that APC having realized that it lacked what it takes to deliver its campaign promises to Nigerians has resorted to intimidation and harassment of the opposition through a witch-hunt policy.
National Secretary of PDP, Prof. Adewale Oladipo said in a statement on Sunday that in “a desperate mood to cover up its obvious lapses and the clear lack of governance direction in the last eight months, the APC administration has plunged all its energy seeking imaginary PDP faults.
“In all democracies, viable opposition is recommended for stability and growth of society, but the APC in is seeking to decimate opposition so foist its dictatorial agenda of installing one party state without economic direction and where the rights of the citizens are trampled under-foot.
“Nigerians have seen through the campaign deceptions and the now unfolding agenda of the APC and are now apprehensive about the health of the country as the reality of the type of party and leaders they voted into power gradually dawns on them.
“They have watched carefully as all essential values of a viable democracy are being destroyed; the other arms of government, the judiciary and legislature have been caged under with each now struggling to survive.
“We are all witnesses of the brazen abuse of human rights of citizens, arrest and detention without trial, disregard for court orders and the impunity being displayed by various security agencies in the last eight months.
“Also obvious to Nigerians now is the use of the fight against corruption as means of settling scores with perceived enemies as is the case with key PDP leaders including its Spokesman, an action that is ostensibly aimed at silencing the opposition from looking in and exposing the incompetence, and the double standard of the administration.
“We invite Nigerians and the international community to continue to note that while the government continues to harass PDP leaders and abuse their rights, very obvious corrupt cases involving notable APC leaders have been brushed aside.”
“The PDP however reiterates its support for the fight against corruption but insists that its conduct must have integrity, must be fair, credible, just and must follow due process and rule of law.
“Finally, the PDP assures its numerous supporters across the country of the dividends of the on-going rebuilding and re-engineering process in the party to re-position the party for the electoral challenges ahead especially as it has become clear that APC lacks the capacity to handle governance and provide economic direction for the country, but has only succeeded in injecting bad blood and division among Nigerians resulting in the current threats to national cohesion and stability.
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has sacked the acting National Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, from office.
Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus
Justice Huseini Baba-Yusuf Tuesday ruled in favour of a former political adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, who sued Mr. Secondus and the PDP, alleging that he (Secondus) was holding office illegally.
Mr. Gulak said the office of national chairman was originally zoned to the North-east part of the country and could, therefore, not be occupied by Mr. Secondus, who is from the South-South.
Justice Baba-Yusuf Yusuf agreed with Mr. Gulak and directed Mr. Secondus to vacate office and hand over the leadership of the party to either Mr. Gulak or someone capable from the North East within 14 days.
In his prayers, Mr. Gulak said based on the constitution of the party and its zoning principle, he should be the rightful occupant of the office of acting national chairman of the PDP.
The former Chairman of the party, Ahmadu Muazu, who is from Bauchi state resigned his position after the party lost the 2015 presidential election.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the PDP, Olisa Metuh said the party’s National Working Committee would discuss the judgment at its meeting on Wednesday.
“We would come out with a position after the meeting,” he said.
The newly elected Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has said that the electorate will kick out the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 presidential election.
He said this at the national convention of the APC where he was elected as the first national chairman of the party.
“The APC is here! In 2015 Nigerians will finally have the opportunity to kick out a long-ruling party that has, among other things, failed to provide them with stable power supply, failed to provide them with security that will enable them sleep peacefully on their beds at night, failed to provide employment for millions of Nigerian youths, and failed to stem the tide of corruption that is robbing Nigeria’s children of their future,” he said.
Chief Oyegun, who was a former governor of Edo state added further that the country is fed up with the PDP-led government describing it as “visionless and clueless.”
“As if these woes are not enough, our situation has been compounded by the amazingly visionless national leadership that has been inflicted on Nigerians by the People’s Democratic Party since the dawn of our latest democratic dispensation.
“In this past decade and a half of genuine suffering, Nigerians have been frustrated by the fact that there was no alternative national party of comparable strength to rescue them from the clutches of the PDP.
“In 2015, the All Progressives Congress will provide Nigerians with a visionary, dedicated and people-oriented leadership that will liberate the nation from PDP’s rule of poverty and oppression. Under the stewardship of the APC, Nigeria will progress and Nigerians will thrive. This is our sacred pledge to Nigerians tonight,” Oyegun said during his acceptance speech at the convention.
Following the national convention of the All Progressives Congress held on Friday, cracks have started to appear in the nation’s main opposition party, SUNDAY PUNCH checks have revealed.
Contrary to feelers from the APC that its leaders emerged at the convention through hitch-free consensus, some notable members of the party have expressed anger over the manner the leaders emerged, threatening future actions.
A notable founding member of the party, Chief Tom Ikimi, in an interview with one of our correspondents, denied reports that he conceded the chairmanship position of the party to the eventual winner, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
“I did not willingly step down for Chief Odigie-Oyegun. I was not there. I did not step down for anybody because I was not there. Whoever said I stepped down is telling a lie because I was not at the convention. I didn’t participate. I boycotted the convention,” Ikimi responded, angrily.
Ikimi, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, was credited as being instrumental in the merger process of the Action Congress of Nigeria, All Nigeria Peoples Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance and Congress for Progressive Change.
It was he who announced the merger of the four political parties to form the All Progressives Congress.
Ikimi, who was the chairman of the ACN Merger Committee, had said during the official announcement of the merger and the new name of the party, that the APC was “a recipe for prosperity”
He said, “At no time in our national life has radical change become more urgent. And to meet the challenge of that change, we, the following progressive political parties, namely ACN, ANPP, APGA and CPC, have resolved to merge forthwith and become the All Progressives Congress and offer to our beleaguered people a recipe for prosperity”.
He also explained that the new party came about in view of the need to promote principles of internal democracy and bring about national development.
On what his next line of action will be, following his discontentment with the convention, he said, “I am preparing a statement which I shall release in the next few days.”
Also, a former Deputy Governor of Ogun State and member of the Senate, Adegbenga Kaka, said he did not attend the convention because he was not officially invited. He said even though he had the privilege to be at the event, he decided not to attend when he sensed irregularities in the conduct of the exercise.
He said, “There was no formal invitation and I was not waiting for any invitation. I perceived injustice and I decided not to go. I was not the only one; many of us in Ogun State did not go.
“The moment they (APC national leadership) decided not to review the appeal committee’s report and take action that would unite the party; and they decided to recognise a faction, then we lost interest in whatever was going on.
“We are waiting. We will do necessary analysis; we will listen and assess all that transpired (at the convention) and take a decision.”
In Cross River State, a co-chairman of the screening committee, who resigned to contest for the position of the national Vice Chairman, South-South, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, said he would seek redress to correct the manner in which consensus candidates were picked.
Obono-Obla contested against Mr. Hilliard Eta, who emerged winner as the consensus candidate for the position zoned to Cross River State.
He lamented that he was not invited to the meeting where Eta was picked as the consensus candidate.
“What criteria did they use to pick him? Before this convention, a delegate from the state called to inform me that I should not bother; That Eta had been picked. Why so,” he queried?
He said although the issue of consensus candidacy was in the party’s constitution, the manner of picking a candidate should be made more transparent.
Obono-Obla also alleged that during the convention, a list purported to have been endorsed by the APC governors, was sent round indicating the chosen candidates.
He said such a practice was wrong as the fate of contestants whose names were not on the list were known before the conduct of elections.
He said, “I am thinking of seeking redress. Why should they pass a list of preferred candidates. What criteria were used?”
Meanwhile, fresh facts have emerged on how a former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, emerged as the first substantive National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, in the early hours of Saturday.
It was learnt that the emergence of Odigie-Oyegun, as the consensus candidate for the post was an arrangement perfected by the leadership and executed by the Alhaji Kawu Baraje-led election sub-committee of the first National Convention Planning Committee, at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
Odigie-Oyegun’s victory was made possible by a powerful lobby led by a leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. A few hours to the convention, a former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Tom Ikimi, was the only remaining contestant who could not be prevailed upon to step down for Oyegun.
One of the contestants, Chief Sam Jaja, told reporters at the convention venue that contestants and leaders of the party from the South-South geo-political zone “agreed to zone the position to Edo State.”
This, he said, reduced the number of strong contenders to two instead of the initial four, which included him and the former Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva. He, however, declined further comments on what else transpired after that.
It was learnt that Ikimi insisted on going ahead with the contest but could not get a majority of party leaders, who were more disposed to a consensus arrangement, to support him.
When it became obvious that he was in the minority, he stayed away from the convention ground to register his displeasure at the turn of events.
In line with an agreement brokered by the party leaders who met at the Sokoto State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro for several hours, the candidate of the APC Governors Forum, who is also a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Timipire Sylva, Chief Sam Jaja announced their decision to step down for Oyegun. This decision sealed the fate of Ikimi as Oyegun was announced as the sole candidate for the position.
A former governor of Ekiti State, who recently defected from the PDP, Mr. Segun Oni, emerged as Deputy National Chairman (South), while a former national secretary of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lawal Shuaibu, was also returned unopposed as deputy national chairman (North).
The delegates also elected the interim National Secretary, Alhaji Ibrahim Bala Gubi, as the substantive National Secretary following the withdrawal of Alhaji Kashim Imam from the race, while the Interim Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was returned unopposed to retain his former position.
However, the process of electing other officers was disrupted by a downpour, accompanied by strong wind, around 2:00am.
The voting process could not be completed as officers and delegates scampered to safety as the wind scattered ballot boxes, canopies and the public address system.
Other notable party members that were absent at the convention were the former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba, his erstwhile deputy and many other chieftains of the party from the state.
The reason might not be unconnected with the cold war between Osoba and Governor Ibikunle Amosun on who should control the structure of the party.
Some APC senators, who did not attend the convention, expressed mixed feelings over the consensus arrangement that produced the national officers of the party.
Some believe the development could force some members, perceived to be advocates of primaries, to leave the party.
A serving Senator from Ogun State, who preferred anonymity, said he shunned the convention in agreement with his colleagues because of the decision of some leaders in the state to hijack the structure of the party.
But the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has said that it is satisfied with the conduct of the convention and the emergence of John Oyegun as the new national chairman.
Speaking with our correspondent on Saturday in Ibadan, the Chairman of the party in Oyo State, Akin Oke, who was at the convention, said, “We are satisfied with the election of Oyegun as APC National Chairman. He is a democrat and a man of clear vision of how an ideal nation should look like. Among the candidates that vied for the position, he was the most acceptable. We have confidence in him because in the days of the Social Democratic Party (defunct) we worked with him and we are satisfied with his leadership qualities.”
Similarly, the former military administrator of Rivers State, Mr. Sam Ewang, has commended the APC for organising a congress that was acceptable to members of the party.
Ewang said, “I am happy about last Friday’s APC congress. The congress met my expectation. I believe things are going to take a new turn completely. Whatever that are needed to be corrected are going to be corrected and that is my joy.”
BENIN—THE All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State has hailed the emergence of the former governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun as the choice of the national caucus of the party for the office of the National Chairman.
At a meeting presided over by its Chairman, Mr. Anslem Ojezua, the state executive described Odigie-Oyegun as a reliable democrat, “an indomitable freedom fighter and a seasoned administrator.
“The executive commended APC national caucus for its sagacity and meticulousness in the screening of candidates for the foremost leadership position of the party.
“We appeal to the other candidates dropped by the caucus all of whom are eminently qualified for the exalted office, to co-operate with Odigie-Oyegun.”
In a move to try to resolve the crisis that has rocked the Peoples Democratic Party at the national and regional levels, the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, on Thursday met with the suspended national secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh, behind closed doors. It was the second time Mauzu and Oyinlola would be meeting since January, when Muazu replaced Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as PDP chairman.
MUAZU
The meeting took place about 8pm at PDP’s alternate office, Legacy House, Maitama, in Abuja, and had in attendance some members of the party’s National Working Committee.
THISDAY gathered that the meeting was part of efforts to achieve a final resolution of the crisis rocking the party before its midterm national convention billed to hold in the last week of May. The planned national convention is not an elective convention, but it would be used to pass a vote of confidence on the NWC and ratify Muazu’s selection as national chairman. He was chosen by the National Executive Committee of the party on January 20.
It was also gathered that the ongoing zonal rallies of the PDP would be rounded off with the midterm convention.
According to a source that spoke with THISDAY, “It is after the PDP midterm national convention that President Goodluck Jonathan will officially declare to contest for the 2015 presidential election. The rallies at the zones and the mid-convention are being used to sensitise the people for the eventual declaration of the president for the presidential election.”
Ahead of the president’s declaration, the party is believed to be making frantic moves to reconcile aggrieved members, including five of its governors, who defected to All Progressives Congress last year. The meeting with the former governor of Osun State and the ex-speaker was, apparently, meant to persuade them and other stakeholders in the South-west to return to the party and fully participate in its affairs at all levels in the march towards next year’s general elections.
The source, who was at the meeting, said, “The mood of the former Osun State governor was not that of someone insisting on becoming the national secretary. Yes, his appeal is pending at the Supreme Court, but his body language at the meeting did not seem to support the return to office as the national secretary. He is a friend of the national chairman and he is using that advantage to appeal to him to let go in the spirit of national reconciliation.”
PDP may be planning a safe landing for the suspended national secretary if he agrees to forego the office and withdraw his appeal at the Supreme Court. Oyinlola’s court-ordered removal last year was widely believed to be part of an onslaught against loyalists of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The source said, “Many things have happened since the suspension of Oyinlola as the national secretary. The spirit of things now is reconciliation, which is give and take. Professor Oladipo Olawale has been appointed as his replacement and it is expected that he would be ratified at the midterm national convention as the substantive national secretary of the party.
“What we are looking at now is for Oyinlola to accept to withdraw his suit at the Supreme Court and other things will follow.”
Oyinlola is alleged to be showing a favourable disposition towards the PDP olive branch.
On Obasanjo’s alleged insistence on the reinstatement of Oyinlola as a condition for reconciliation, the source said, “If Oyinlola eventually agrees that he is withdrawing his suit from the Supreme Court, then the matter is over. Will Baba force the Prince to become the national secretary when he says he is no longer interested? This is all politics and everyone will be taken care of at the end of the day.”
Oyinlola and Bode Mustapha, also an Obasanjo loyalist and former PDP national auditor, are currently at the Supreme Court challenging their removal by the NWC. The Court of Appeal had on November 6 last year reinstated Oyinlola as the national secretary but the party refused to obey the order.
Mustapha is challenging the NWC and the recognition of Adewale Adeyanju as the national auditor. He sees such recognition as a contravention of a stay of execution on his removal granted by the Court of Appeal. (0)
Our attention has been drawn to the above subject matter published in some carefully but deceitful selected media houses to disparage the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Rivers State chapter as presently constituted and ultimately create disaffection among its unsuspecting members and supporters within and outside the State.
PDP
It’s not also lost on us that those behind this campaign of calumny must have an ulterior motive which only time will expose.
We say so because the PDP in Rivers State is intact and has never witnessed the kind of internal crisis and inactivity that was the case when the sacked G. U. Ake led State executive of the party was in place.
It’s also noteworthy that the PDP in the State has irrevocably come back to life since its erstwhile leader, and State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
May we also state here in very unmistakable terms too, that no issue of marginalization or hijack of party machinery and, or any such rancorous development has been tabled before the party leadership in the State by any aggrieved member of the party neither has it come to the knowledge of the party that such ill feelings as falsely claimed in the publications exist.
We are therefore shocked that certain persons who perhaps, are APC mercenaries could willingly disguise as PDP concerned elders for the singular reason of obstructing the restoration of peace and faith of members in the PDP which the opposition sees as on obvious threat to their leadership of self enrichment and emasculation of the majority of Rivers people.
There is no gainsaying the fact that Governor Amaechi, like a wounded lion is not leaving any stone unturned and is doing everything possible including financial inducement in making sure that the unity of purpose, cohesion and high spirit of the Bro. Felix Obuah leadership that characterize the state chapter of our great party is arrested to actualize his dream to sell off the State to the opposition as a way of hitting back at President Goodluck Jonathan and the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Barr. Nyesom Wike whom he holds responsible for his political woos.
Again, the Grassroot Development Initiative (GDI), the much we know is a political pressure group sympathetic to the cause of the PDP. It is never a registered political party neither is it so recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The GDI, as an organization, we believe has its own leadership distinct from that of the PDP and has never limited their activities to the cause of the PDP alone and as a legitimate organization, which members reserve the right to belong to any party of their choice, we cannot infringe on the right of such persons by dictating to them which party to belong or refuse them membership of our great party if they so wish.
But one salient point is that the GDI is never the same and has never claim to be PDP and to allege so is to be foolhardy and to mischievously score a cheap political point.
The PDP in Rivers State has said it times without number that its doors are open to all bonafide members of the party who wish to aspire to any office in the land and will stop at nothing to ensure there is fairness, equity and justice while carrying out any process leading to the realization of this aspiration but must of note, not compromise quality, competence and ability to deserve the party mandate at all levels.
It’s only those that fall short of these criteria and democratic standards that may wish to cut corners to get what they are not qualified for, through baseless and unfounded allegations as authored and published by these strangers to the PDP.
Hon Lolo Tamunoemi Ibieneye, one of the undersigned of the false publication, we recall was a former chieftain of the PDP before he defected to the then Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.
Since the party (ACN) merged into the APC, he is yet to come back to the PDP neither has he indicated his interest to do so.
His counterpart in this satanic mission, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe is better known as a commentator on Niger Delta issues and a resident of Delta State than a member of the PDP or any political party.
To claim to be concerned elders of the PDP in Rivers State, and to contemplate using the PDP logo to dish out such falsehood, to say the least, is criminal.
The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, wishes to state very categorically clear that, Hon Lolo Tamunoemi Ibieneye and Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe are not members of the PDP.
Article 9.1g, under code of conduct refrains members from publishing or distributing to the media, any article which purports to be the view of any faction or tendency within the party (without due authorization).
The PDP shall apply the provisions of its constitution against recalcitrant members.
We therefore enjoin our most respected National chairman and loyal party members in the state and across the country to remain steadfast and committed to the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan which the present PDP leadership led by Bro. Felix Obuah in Rivers State among others, has come to actualize.
We also urge you to discountenance this falsehood titled “Open Letter To The PDP National Chairman” as nothing but a tactical wish of mediocre persons trying to win undeserved recognition through the backdoor.
All play and no work, we must not fail to realize makes Jack a mere toy.
Everybody should wake up and work so that Rivers State is retrieved from the leprous hands of the monsters holding it hostage for the past six years.
This is the issue now and not tricky angling for spoils of war when the fight is still on. (0)
A notable founding member of the party, Chief Tom Ikimi, in an interview with one of our correspondents, denied reports that he conceded the chairmanship position of the party to the eventual winner, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
