PDP supporters shout 'Atiku Atiku' at G-5 govs rally for Makinde – Newstrends
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PDP supporters shout ‘Atiku Atiku’ at G-5 govs rally for Makinde

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1 year ago

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Aggrieved five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors, popularly called G-5, were on Thursday embarrassed by the shout of ‘Atiku, Atiku’ from the crowd of party supporters at a rally organised by the G-5 in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Atiku Abubakar is the PDP presidential candidate for the February 2023 election.

The Thursday’s forum was the official launch of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s second-term bid.

The governors had fallen out with their party’s leadership over the outcome of the presidential primary that produced Atiku. Thus, his name was, obviously, the last thing they wanted to hear among their supporters at Thursday’s rally.

Thisday reports that when supporters were asked to vote other candidates of the party, to the exclusion of the former vice president, the crowd at Mapo Hall, Ibadan, venue of the rally, reacted swiftly in open resistance.
The deafening cries of “Atiku” was a major blow to the G-5, comprising Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Makinde, and Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

And contrary to the widely held belief that the five governors were working against the main opposition party, Ortom said the group was still committed to the party.
He said they were working round the clock to ensure that PDP won all elections in their respective states.

In Abia State, PDP supporters in Ikpeazu’s hometown, affirmed their backing for Atiku, in yet another blow for the dissenting governors.
But in Rivers State, Wike finally approved Atiku’s campaign in the state after an initial resistance.
The G-5 governors, who were all in attendance at the Ibadan rally, in their separate remarks at the re-election campaign tagged, “Omituntun 2.0: Sustainable Development,” were silent on the candidate to support in the forthcoming presidential election.
The Ibadan rally was well attended by party members from within and outside the state, hundreds of thousands of citizens, howeverIn his speech at the rally, Wike, who is the leader of the G-5, said, “Vote for Seyi, vote for the House of Representatives, vote for the House of Assembly. The other one, Seyi, would talk to you. No be so?”
But in response, the crowd started shouting, “Atiku, Atiku, Atiku…” Even when Makinde mounted the podium and tried to douse the strong opposition chants by shouting “PDP”, the response from the crowd was “Atiku, Atiku, Atiku…”
However, Ortom said the G5 governors and other members of the party working with them in the integrity group were “committed members of the PDP in their various states” and would work to ensure that candidates of the party in their states were elected in the forthcoming polls.
The Benue State governor stressed that the problem of PDP at the national level was being prolonged by the failure of the party’s leadership to deploy its internal conflict resolution mechanism to settle issues that arose after the national convention.Ortom was full of praises for Makinde’s commitment to the development of Oyo State. He expressed optimism that the people of the state would return him for a second term.
He thanked the people of Oyo State for their support for PDP and Makinde, pointing out that their massive turnout at the campaign flag-off was an indication that the election in March was a done deal for the party.Ortom said the G5 governors’ decision on the presidential candidate to support would be made public “at the appropriate time”. He declared that apart from the presidential election, the G5 governors would work for all PDP candidates in the 2023 general election.
The Benue State governor stated, “We have challenges with our national leadership. They have failed to resolve the internal crisis in the party arising from the party’s national convention. We shall make our resolve on this known at the appropriate time.”Ortom asked the people of Oyo State to compensate Makinde with their votes for his good performance in the past three years and seven months by reelecting him in the March 11 election.
Wike, on his part, said the people of Oyo State should await the directive of Makinde on who they should vote for in the February 25 presidential election. He said as far as he was concerned, there was no other political party in Oyo State apart from PDP.The Rivers State governor said the only way for the people of the state to appreciate Makinde was to vote for him.Makinde, in his remarks, appreciated the people and party faithful for entrusting the destiny of the state to him. He assured that more development projects and programmes will be witnessed in the state if he was reelected for another term of four years.
Makinde said he jerked up the state’s internally generated revenue from about N1.7 billion to N3.8 billion as at November last year. He promised to do more for Oyo State and its people if reelected, saying he has fulfilled all his campaign promises in his first term.He stated, “In my first term, I promised you the following on agenda Omituntun 1.0 known as accelerated development: economic prosperity, education, improved infrastructure (Awotan, Akobo, Moniya/Ijaye Road), GSM salary date, safe and secure environment (Amotekun), gainful employment with total fulfillment.“My second term will be towards total socio-economic upgrade in the state. This is formally known as the Omituntun 2.0, a sustainable development.”
The PDP supporters in the hometown of Ikpeazu avowed their support for Atiku.
Earlier, the PDP governorship candidate in Abia State, Prof. Uche Ikonne, visited Atiku and pledged loyalty to him.
PDP supporters in Obingwa Local Government Area said they had not only adopted, but also vowed to deliver Atiku in next month’s election.
According to them, party remains supreme in everything, hence, they have no option than to support the party’s standard bearer as party faithful.
In a campaign video, addressing party faithful and stakeholders at Abala Primary School, the chairman of PDP in Obingwa, Seth Agomuo, declared the loyalty and unflinching support of the party members for Atiku.
Agomuo said PDP in the council would give their block votes to all the party’s candidates in the different elections.
He said, “As a party chairman, and a true party man here in Obingwa, I want to clarify something. As far as I’m concerned, and a true party man, candidates have emerged after contested primary elections, such candidates now belong to the party and the party will support them.
“That’s the truth. I’m a true party man. Whether you love the candidate or hate him, that doesn’t matter as long as he emerged from a primary election conducted by the party.
“So, as far as I’m concerned and as far as I’m the PDP chairman in Obingwa, we shall only vote for PDP candidates, from Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to the Senate, House Representatives, governor, and state House of Assembly.
“We are PDP and that’s our stand. We’re Igbos, but our party comes first before any other thing.”  The G-5 governors had vowed that Atiku’s presidential bid would not get their full support unless the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu vacated his position for a southerner, to ensure equity in the party hierarchy.

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Power tussle as Kano APC nullifies Ganduje’s suspension by his ward 

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17 hours ago

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April 15, 2024

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Power tussle as Kano APC nullifies Ganduje’s suspension by his ward 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State has nullified the suspension of Abdullahi Ganduje, national chairman of the party, by the ward leadership of the party.

The APC executives in the Dawakin Ward under the Tofa Local Government Area of Kano earlier on Monday suspended Ganduje over allegations of corruption levelled against him.

Halliru Gwanzo, legal adviser of the ward, said the suspension would subsist until Ganduje, a former Kano governor, is cleared of the allegations.

But some hours later, the state working committee of the party upturned the suspension order.

Abdullahi Abbas, chairman of the APC in Kano, claimed the ward executives who suspended Ganduje were working with the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Abbas also announced the suspension of the ward executives for six months.

“We have evidence of meetings between the state government officials and those that suspended the national chairman, and the state working committee has agreed to sanction them for six months and they stand suspended,” the chairman told journalists.

Last week, a Kano High Court ruled that Ganduje should appear before it on April 17 on charges of bribery, diversion and misappropriation of public funds.

He will be arraigned alongside his wife and son.

In 2018, Daily Nigerian, an online newspaper, published a video of Ganduje allegedly receiving bundles of dollars from contractors, which he stuffed into his “babanriga”, a traditional outfit.

The newspaper said Ganduje demanded $5 million as bribe from the contractors who recorded the video.

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BREAKING: Kano ward exco suspends APC national chairman, Ganduje

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23 hours ago

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April 15, 2024

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National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje

BREAKING: Kano ward exco suspends APC national chairman, Ganduje

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, has been suspended by members of his ward, the Ganduje Ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State.

The Executive Council of Ganduje Ward led by Haruna Gwanjo disclosed this during a press briefing in Kano on Monday.

Gwanjo said that the former governor has to clear his name of corruption allegations regarding his long-standing dollar case.

A viral video had captured Ganduje allegedly receiving bundles of dollar notes as a bribe from a man said to be a contractor and stuffing them in the pockets of his flowing gown.

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The video, which garnered widespread attention in 2017, has been the subject of intense scrutiny.

Ganduje had denied the content of the video when it first surfaced and maintained his innocence but years after, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP)’s administration of Governor Abba Yusuf revisited the case, vowing the prosecute the ex-governor.

The Kano High Court would arraign Ganduje on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 on charges bordering on allegations of bribery, diversion, and misappropriation of funds, including the purported acceptance of $413,000 and N1.38bn in bribes.

The Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Haruna Dederi, had said Ganduje would be arraigned alongside his wife and six others.

The Yusuf administration, which initiated the criminal suit against the eight respondents, had declared its readiness to present 15 witnesses to testify before Justice Usman Na’aba of State High Court.

BREAKING: Kano ward exco suspends APC national chairman, Ganduje

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Soldiers could have fired at Yoruba Nation agitators – Bode George

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1 day ago

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April 15, 2024

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Soldiers could have fired at Yoruba Nation agitators – Bode George

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bode George, has said the invasion of the Oyo State House of Assembly complex by the Yoruba Nation agitators is an act of treason.

Indeed, he said if soldiers were the first set of security operatives invited to quel thé situation, they could fire at them for taking up arms against the government.

George stated this on Monday during an interview on Arise Television.

He said what the agitators did amounted to taking up arms against the government.

He said, “You don’t just go and take up arms against your government, it’s treason. That they called Amotekun and the police is something; if it were people from my old profession, they would have seen them as enemies and fired at them.

“I was completely very angry because that is not the way you talk to your government. What could have driven them into that? My conclusion is that they might not be educated. You don’t take up arms against your nation.

“It’s unimaginable; you brought guns and charms. Were they dreaming? It’s unacceptable, it’s the highest breaking of the law of the land. You have your freedom of speech which is the most sensible way to approach this problem. The problem is that this thing never leaked to the intelligence of this nation.

“Agitators carried their weapons in military uniforms, and nobody stopped them on the road.

“You now see the urgent need for state police because they could not have been meeting somewhere if we are well organized like the state police.”

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