How El-Rufai’s Son Pushed Serving Rep Out Of APC – Newstrends
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How El-Rufai’s Son Pushed Serving Rep Out Of APC

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Bello El-Rufai

When the member representing Kaduna North Federal Constituency, Samaila Suleiman, resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in March, 2022, he cited internal squabbles within the ruling party as his reason.

This, however, is far from the truth, as Daily Trust gathered that among other reasons, the young legislator was said to have left the party following an eagle-eye interest of Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s eldest son, Bello, on his seat at the green chamber.

Daily Trust reports that Suleiman, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Special Duties, in a letter dated March 8, 2022, addressed to the state’s APC Chairman, Emmanuel Jekada, stated that his decision followed the breakdown of internal democracy and factionalisation of the party at all levels, especially at the national level.

In the letter, attached with his APC membership card, which was copied to the APC chairman of Kaduna North Local Government Area and the ward chairman of Unguwan Sarki, Suleiman stated that his resignation was with immediate effect.

The APC Chairman of Kaduna North LGA, Suleiman Wada, confirmed that the letter had been received at the state secretariat.

However, weeks into his resignation, and having moved to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it became glaring that Bello el-Rufai was the major obstacle to Suleiman’s retention of his seat at the national assembly come 2023.

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Tongues began to wag as to why Suleiman, a young and ambitious legislator, could leave the APC rather than slug it out with Bello.

Sources within the APC told our correspondent that Bello had been promised Suleiman’s seat.

Speaking with our correspondent, the state APC Publicity Secretary, Salisu Tanko Wusonu, however, said, “This is not true. The APC has not promised anyone the ticket. The ticket is with the delegates, and if you are serious and believe you are capable of contesting, then you have every right to canvas support from the delegates.

“Anyone who tells you that the ticket has been promised to someone is not telling the truth. The present member was elected under the APC twice. Should we say the ticket was promised to him at that time? Some people lost for him to win, and so that is just it. If you believe you are a vibrant politician and you know what you are doing, people will vote for you. There is nothing to fear.”

As a former Chairman of Kaduna North LGA who moved to the House of Representatives in 2015, Suleiman is said to be a grassroots mobiliser and popular among his constituents. He is of Kaduna’s old political dynasty as his father, Alhaji Abdu Suleiman, said to be one of the most influential political godfathers in the state.

Those in his camp say he is not afraid of taking risks.

A resident of Kaduna North said, “He is the only politician who won local government council election under President Muhammadu Buhari’s defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2008 given his grassroots antecedence and popularity among the downtrodden. Suleiman, if he had decided to slug it out with Bello he could have given both father and son a run for their money.”

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Even in the PDP, Suleiman will have to slug it out with an old rival, Shehu ABG who also defected from the APC after the 2015 elections. ABG, who was a member for Kaduna North Federal Constituency under the defunct CPC, had moved to the APC but lost his seat to Suleiman in 2015.

Meanwhile, supporters of Bello, who is in his 30s, say his years of experience as a former senior legislative aide and Chief of Staff to Sen Uba Sani (Kaduna Central), has exposed him to legislative matters that will make him an asset to the people of the state.

“He will perform wonders for his constituents. He is smart and passionate like his father,” a member of the Bello el-Rufai Awareness Forum said.

But like his father, Bello though courageous and not scared to pick a fight, can be very controversial. In 2020 he was enmeshed in a controversial sexual abuse tweet when he made a slur on a gang rape against the mother of a twitter user. He later apologised for his infamous conduct on social media, saying his tweets fell short of his family’s values of decency and tolerance.

To get the APC ticket may just be a tea party for the young El-Rufai given that his father is in control of the party at the state level. However, to get to the green chamber, Bello will have to bulldoze his way through Suleiman’s grassroots popularity. To do that, he will not only rely on his father’s political structure, but on friends such as Hon Muktar Baloni, the Chairman of Kaduna North LGA.

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Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats

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IIiya Umar Damagum

Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats

Few days after governors on the platform of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) handed down an ultimatum for things to change in the party, the Acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagun has moved against the FCT Minister and his loyal lawmakers, the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Damagun in a letter addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dated 13th November 2024 and released on Sunday by the spokesperson of the Opposition Lawmakers Coalition, Ikenga Ugochinyere urged the electoral umpire to conduct a bye-election to fill up the 27 seats, they vacated to join the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Wike has been accused of being behind the crisis in the PDP over his disagreement with the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara, his successor.

The crisis which started over control of resources divided the party in the state with 27 lawmakers in the state assembly siding Wike and defected to the APC following Wike’s acceptance to serve in the government of the APC.

He has also been accused of working in cahoots with Damagun to damage the PDP by not organising the National Executive Committee which would lead to the acting Chairman’s ouster.

After a series of agitation, the latest being from the PDP Governors’ Forum over the weekend, Damagun has demanded that INEC conduct elections as soon as possible, apparently moving against the FCT minister.

He argued in letter titled, ‘DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE CONDUCT OF FRESH ELECTION IN 27 STATE CONSTITUENCIES OF RIVERS STATE WHICH HAVE BECOME VACANT PURSUANT TO SECTION 109(1)(g) OF THE CONSTITUTION’ that it’s “unlawful” for the 27 members to defect.

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The members defected to the APC on December 11, 2023.

Damagun said, going by provisions of the Constitution, the lawmakers are no longer members of the Assembly.

The PDP acting chairman therefore urged the Commission to perform its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting fresh elections to fill the vacancies created in the 27 state constituencies by the unlawful act of the former Assembly members.

Parts of the letter read, “The Leadership of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wishes to draw the attention of the Commission to the gross violation of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) by 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly following their unlawful defection from our Party, the PDP who sponsored their elections to the All Progressive Congress (APC) on Monday, December 11, 2023.

“The Commission may recall that our Party, the PDP nominated all our 32 State House of Assembly candidates in Rivers State for the 2023 General Election on the 7th of July 2022 via your electronic candidate election nomination portal (See attached acknowledgement).

“The Commission may also recall that following the nomination, the Commission conducted election into the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 18th of March, 2023 and our Party won 32 seats in the state Assembly. The elected State House of Assembly members were inaugurated and sworn-in on June, 2023.

“However, on Monday, 11 December, 2023 a period of just six (6) months after inauguration, 27 out of the 32 members publicly announced their defection from our Party to the All Progressive Congress (APC). This defection is a gross violation of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As amended).

“The only two grounds of division and merger provided for in the Constitution that permit such defection are completely non-existent in our political Party. It therefore means that the defections of the 27 members are without lawful excuse and these members have vacated their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly by the operations of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.

“In view of the foregoing, we hereby demand that the Commission performs its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting a Fresh Election to fill the vacancies created in the 27 State Constituencies by the unlawful act of the Assembly members. Find attached the list of the 27 State Assembly Members and their Constituencies.

“While thanking the Commission for its commitment to deepening democracy in our country, please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”

Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats

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Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe

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Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe

 

Nigeria would have been better than what it is currently if Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), had won the 2023 elections, the senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said.

Abaribe, who spoke on ‘Politics Today,’ a Channels Television programme, on Monday, said Obi would not have been as nepotistic as the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

“Number one, he would not be as nepotistic as this government; he won’t; it’s not in him. That is just who we are; we feel for the other people.”

The lawmaker called attention to Tinubu’s appointment of four ministers from Ogun alone, noting that many other states have just one.

“I say it, and I don’t think so. We are seeing it everyday. I just gave you one example. How can Ogun state have four ministers? Why does he favour Ogun state? Oyo state has only one minister,” Abaribe said.

”The nepotism of Buhari, which nobody followed, has now deepened under President Tinubu because Buhari did it, and nobody said much. I was the only person shouting.”

He said that rather than waiting for presidents to be fair to the people of the south-east, it is high time people of the zone went back to revamp it, make it more livable, better, and more cohesive.

“It’s obvious that if we continue to look at whoever becomes president, they will look at us and do us right. Apart from Obasanjo and maybe Jonathan, I do not think that we have seen that same type of fairness,” he said.

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Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary

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Seyi Tinubu

Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary

Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, has been tipped for the seat of Lagos governor in the 2027 governorship election.

This was according to a video making the rounds on various social media platforms, which Peoples Gazette saw on Sunday.

The video highlights the president’s son’s biography, focusing on his education, career, and humanitarian activities as a Nigerian. It also documents his involvement in youth development in the country.

This biopic comes on the heels of some groups’ endorsements of Mr Tinubu’s son as a potential successor to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2027.

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On Tuesday, the Coalition of Nigerian Youth Leaders issued an endorsement in Owerri, Imo, suggesting that the younger Tinubu would be welcomed to contest the governorship seat in Osun or Imo.

He was also endorsed by Friends of Seyi, a group emphasising his vision and intellectual wherewithal to govern the country’s commercial nerve.

APC chieftain Joe Igbokwe, however, described the gale of endorsements as a ploy to undermine the president in a Facebook post.

“Who are these faceless people pushing Seyi Tinubu for Lagos governor? This is a needless distraction,” said Mr Igbokwe. “To pull PBAT down is their target. Ruling Lagos is not the job of boys.”

Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary

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