Similarly, a national officer of the party, Timothy Osadolor, described Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, his Abia, Oyo, Benue, and Enugu state counterparts, Okezie Ikpeazu, Seyi Makinde, Samuel Ortom, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, respectively as a band of leaders nobody took seriously anymore.
Politics
Atiku’ll win without G-5 govs, says campaign council
Ahead of the February 2023 presidential election, loyalists of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, have predicted outright victory for the former Vice President.
They said they were confident of the PDP candidate’s victory with or without the support of the five governors who are currently not participating in the party’s electioneering.
This is even as Atiku’s men said the solidarity enjoyed by the candidate cut across party lines, noting that the task to rescue Nigeria from “the ills” of the past seven and a half years should be supported by well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of their religious and political leanings.
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the Director of Strategic Communication, National Election Management Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Committee, Chief Dele Momodu, said Atiku had distinguished himself from other contestants in the race to Aso Rock.
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“There is no candidate today that can stop Atiku Abubakar from becoming President of Nigeria. None of the candidates has his pedigree, exposure, competence, temperament, and network. He has paid his dues, having staked his life in the growth and development of democracy in Nigeria in the past 29 years. His crowning glory will come in 2023.
“I heard one of the G5 governors saying yesterday that he will announce his preferred presidential candidate in January. We hope they will announce Atiku but with or without the support of these governors, Atiku is winning the election. He will become the President of Nigeria. This is not rhetoric.
“Everyone contesting can list thousands of reasons they should be voted for but we need a man who is an expert at job creation, a unifier, a Nigerian that Nigerians can trust. Wherever he is called to share his vision, he goes there no matter how inconvenient it is. Unlike those who run away from town halls, Atiku is always available to speak about the issues. While others attack him, his focus is on the issues. We do hope these candidates will man up to debate him on issues of security, job creation, economy, sports, infrastructure, and what have you,” he said.
Politics
Delta Governor Oborevwori dumps PDP for APC
Delta Governor Oborevwori dumps PDP for APC
Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, has announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The announcement came after a high-level closed-door meeting held at the Government House in Asaba on Tuesday evening.
The governor’s defection is coming just after a viral video stirred speculation about his political future. In the footage, which sparked online debates, Oborevwori was seen in close company with known APC stakeholders. At the time, his media aide dismissed the clip as “old and misleading.”
Newstrends learnt senior APC figures were present to welcome the governor into their fold, signaling a significant political realignment in the South-South state.
The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon, said Oborevwori’s decision was based on “wide consultations with political stakeholders and in the interest of Delta’s long-term development.”
“This move was not made lightly,” Ahon emphasized. “The governor is deeply committed to the prosperity of Delta State and believes that working with the APC at the federal level will help accelerate growth and deliver better dividends of democracy to the people.”
Governor Oborevwori was elected under the PDP platform in the 2023 gubernatorial election, defeating his opponents to secure the governorship seat. His defection to the APC, however, is already being interpreted by political analysts as a calculated strategy with an eye on the 2027 general elections
Politics
No candidate can win presidential election without the North – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed
No candidate can win presidential election without the North – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed
Former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Tinubu, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has declared that no politician can win the Nigerian presidency in 2027 without the support of the northern region.
Speaking in a video interview in Kaduna, Baba-Ahmed, who appeared alongside Professor Usman Yusuf, former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), emphasized that the North would soon define its political direction.
“In the next six months, the North will decide where it stands. If the rest of the country wants to join us, fine. If not, we will go our own way. One thing is clear: nobody can become president of Nigeria without northern support,” he asserted.
He lamented the state of the nation and urged northerners to resist divisive and deceptive politicians ahead of the next general elections.
“We want a government that understands our problems and can address them. After Buhari’s eight years, we became wiser. Now, we are in another government, and we are still crying. Is crying all we know how to do?” Baba-Ahmed asked.
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Reflecting on past experiences, he said the North had suffered greatly during the Boko Haram insurgency, which affected all groups Muslims, Christians, Fulani, Baju, and others highlighting the need for unity.
“Before Buhari became president, Boko Haram was bombing mosques, churches, Abuja, and Lagos. That was a time northerners had to unite. Today, no politician can just show up and expect northerners to fall in line. Who are you?” he questioned.
He warned against further marginalization of the North, noting that continued disregard for the region would have consequences.
“If they plan to rig the election, they should be careful. It won’t be good for Nigeria. The North is watching. Elders, masses, and interest groups will soon say ‘enough is enough.’ The injustice and sidelining must stop,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also urged the region to look beyond identity politics, stressing that competence and integrity should guide voter decisions.
“We are tired of being deceived into voting based on religion or ethnicity. That era is over. We just want a right leader let him falls from heaven, we just want someone who will solve our problems,” he said.
He concluded by asserting that the northern electorate had learned hard lessons from past choices and would approach 2027 with a new mindset.
No candidate can win presidential election without the North – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed
Politics
Malami, others in CPC started plotting against Tinubu in 2024 — Obono-Obla
Malami, others in CPC started plotting against Tinubu in 2024 — Obono-Obla
Okoi Obono-Obla, former special adviser on public prosecution to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, says members of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc led by Abubakar Malami have been plotting against President Bola Tinubu since April 2024.
He said some members of the bloc recently criticized the president and their purported plan to dump the ruling All Progressives Congress started less than a year into Tinubu’s administration.
Obono-Obla accused Malami of initiating the plan, adding that the former Attorney-General of the Federation should not be speaking for the CPC because he is not a founding member of the bloc.
“He has no right. Malami cannot speak for CPC. He came from PDP. He had even ran for election in 2007 under the platform of PDP,” Obono-Obla.
Recounting the early days of the CPC, he said, “I was among the people who put the political association known as CPC together.
“When we went to register that association as a political party, I was among the national officers who went to INEC to register that political association as a political party. That was in 2008. He was not there.
“I became the national interim adviser from 2008 to 30th December 2010. And then the party was already registered by INEC in 2010. We were going to have our first national convention.
“So they asked those of us who were interim officers and interested in contesting in the national convention to resign, and I resigned.”
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After the party was registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2010, Obono-Obla said he held the national deputy secretary in 2011, while Malami served as the party’s national legal adviser until the CPC was dissolved.
How Malami’s plot against Tinubu started
Obono-Obla revealed that some members of the CPC bloc started a move to undermine Tinubu’s government at a dinner in a hotel in Abuja.
“This thing did not start because President Bola Tinubu is not doing well,” he said.
“Last year, 28th of April, Emeka Nwajiuba, who was minister of state for education, he was also a member of the CPC merger committee.
“He’s from Imo state. He invited me for a meeting. He said, ‘Obla, come, we want to have dinner in a hotel in Maitama, Abuja, to celebrate Sallah.
“So I went, innocently. I didn’t know what they were going to do. I just went to have dinner.”
He said Malami, former CPC state chairmen, and individuals previously expelled attended the dinner.
“All those people were there, and something told me that this thing is political.”
According to him, the dinner quickly turned political as Nwajiuba and Malami criticised the Tinubu administration.
“That government was not yet up to one year in office. It was on the 28th of April, 2024. Then Malami spoke. Then the people they invited, some of them were very unhappy, they were angry.
“They said, ‘Look, we put you in government, ministers for eight years; you were very powerful.
“Somebody like Abubakar Malami, he was very powerful. ‘What did you do to help CPC as a party? What did you do to ensure that CPC is not marginalised? Why are you now coming to us?”
He said it became clear to him that the grievance was longstanding and politically motivated.
“They couldn’t say anything, and so they started planning this thing since last year. It’s not today,” he added.
Obono-Obla maintained that the recent move by some CPC bloc members against the President was planned.
“It’s planned, it’s not because the current president is not doing well. They have something that is disturbing them, and we don’t like it.”
Meanwhile, founding members of the CPCP, Farouk Aliyu, former minority leader of the House of Representatives and Osita Okechukwu, former director-general of the Voice of Nigeria, have refuted the claim that the CPC bloc within the ruling party plans to defect ahead of the 2027 elections.
The ruling party chieftains said the CPC bloc remains committed to supporting Tinubu’s second-term bid.
Malami, others in CPC started plotting against Tinubu in 2024 — Obono-Obla
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