Politics

Worries In PDP As Wike Gives Tough Conditions, Romances With APC

Published

2 years ago

August 13, 2022

Governor Nyesom Wike

Even though the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Rivers state Governor Nyesom Wike met in Abuja with a view to finding a lasting solution to the ongoing crisis rocking the party, the meeting was yet to achieve anything.

Instead of solutions, tempers seem to have flared since the two top opposition figures met at the residence of the former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana, in Abuja.

Daily Trust Saturday reliably gathered at the weekend that Atiku’s camp may have resorted to working towards the 2023 general elections without the support of the Rivers governor, especially following his recent romance with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Some party stakeholders loyal to the former vice president and the candidate of the PDP were said to have held a meeting with some PDP stalwarts from Rivers State. Some of those touted to have attended the meeting were former governor of the state Celestine Omehia, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Austin Opara and Senator Leo Maeba.

Worried by the development, the Rivers governor responded by striping the politicians of any garb of political paraphernalia in the state. While Maeba was removed as the Chairman of the governing board of the state owned Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Austin Opara and Celestine Omehia were removed as leaders of the PDP in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area and Ikwerre Local Government Area respectively.

The removal of the top leaders of the party from their positions, Daily Trust Saturday learnt, was as a result of their alleged secret romance with Atiku. The trio were said to have attended several meetings with Atiku without “clearance” from Governor Wike.

The thinking among those close to Atiku, Daily Trust Saturday learnt, was that some of these politicians could be used to divide the votes in the state in the event that the peace overtures by the Atiku camp fail to yield any positive result.

After the meeting between Atiku and Wike, a source familiar with what transpired explained that the members of the board blamed Ayu for allowing the crisis to fester when he travelled abroad and also allegedly openly took sides with Atiku Abubakar before, during and after the presidential primary.

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He said: “How can the National Chairman of the party visit an aspirant a day or two after the primary and hail him for stepping down for the eventual winner and even calling him the hero of the convention, which means he wanted only one person to win. How do you expect the other aspirants that lost the contest to feel? Will they be happy?”

Findings by Daily Trust however shows that the Campaign Council may soon be set up as the party hierarchy were said to be disenchanted by the antics of the Rivers State governor in spite of their peace efforts.

Instead of working for peace, Wike has invited at least three top ruling party chieftains to commission projects in his state.

The governor had invited his Lagos State counterpart, Babajide Sanwolu, former Governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko and the Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to commission different projects executed by his administration in the state.

Reacting to the governor’s political activities, Senator Maeba, an ally of Atiku, said the dissolution of the governing board of the polytechnic was as a result of his closeness to Atiku.

He said, “Wike is not hiding that he is fighting Atiku. He called a meeting of Ogoni people who are with him and told them to tell me that he will see how I will campaign for Atiku in this state and he is ready to fight to the finish.

“We don’t know what he (Wike) is planning to do because when campaigns start, we are qualified to campaign too. We are waiting to see how he will do it. This is a joke taken too far.”

Senator Maeba also confirmed the removal of former Governor Celestine Omehia and a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Austin Opara, as leaders of their party in Ikwerre and Port Harcourt City LGAs.

“Yes, he (Wike) called them and humiliated them before their people because we went to pay a solidarity visit to Atiku which we are supposed to do.

“All of us knew Atiku before him. Austin Opara has been in the House of Representatives since 1999. He was the deputy speaker when Atiku was Vice-President. That time Wike was struggling to be local government chairman. So, if Austin Opara has to take permission from him today to go and see Atiku, then something is wrong,” he stated.

On the allegations of politicians holding meetings in Abuja against Wike, he said “When you apportion so much right to yourself, then you are superhuman. Austin Opara was the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives when Atiku Abubakar was the Vice President. They attended caucus meetings together and National Economic Council Meeting.

“So, does it mean that Austin Opara who has been friends with Atiku for over 20 years ago will now start to beg Wike to go and see Atiku? So, he (Wike) is the one who doesn’t have respect for citizens.

“Like me, I met Atiku first in 1992 in Jos for the SDP campaigns. We started working together in 2003 when I became Senator. That time where was he (Wike)? When Austin Opara was working with Atiku, holding meetings, Wike was struggling to come to limelight.”

Meanwhile, the peace talk was said to have broken down over Wike’s insistence that the National Chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, must go amidst other conditions.

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Among the list of conditions by the Wike Camp which met on Sunday 31st of July to harmonize their position was that the National Chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, must vacate his seat for a southern chairman to take over and give the party a semblance of national outlook, but Ayu and his people are said to be strongly opposed to leaving his seat.

According to Wike’s camp, the party had been hijacked by Northerners as the Presidential candidate, National Chairman, Chairman BoT and the chairman PDP Governors forum were all from the North, a development they were not pleased with.

Reacting to the efforts towards resolving the crisis, especially the call by Wike’s men that Ayu should vacate his seat, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba said: “The National Working Committee led by Ayu is united. I also believe the party is happy with him,” adding that anything contrary is in the realm of fake news.

He said “When you have a family it does not mean absence of disagreement, but your capacity to take care of those disagreements makes the difference, that is why the PDP is a party.”

Also speaking on the protests against the National Chairman to vacate his seat because he has allegedly taken sides and lacks the capacity to lead the party to victory in 2023, Debo said, “We are a party of law and order and when you have a situation like that, you must be willing to hear people out. We take every view seriously because conflict resolution is a marathon, it is not a one hundred meter dash.

“We have a robust internal dispute settling mechanism. We are satisfied with the progress we are making; it is slow but surely, we will get there. We are committed to the interest of the party and more importantly the interest of Nigerians and we are on course.

Also, a member of the party close to the presidential candidate, told Daily Trust that though Atiku and Wike have met, it only marks the beginning of the reconciliation process and the road to peace.

He insisted that “many people don’t really understand how difficult mediation is, especially political mediation. All the parties must have faith in the process. Apart from that, everybody is watching and they can misinterpret your genuine intention and accuse you of partisanship and taking sides. But we are hopeful that the differences will be resolved soon,” he said.

Reacting to the situation, Rivers State Publicity Secretary of APC, Chris Finebone, said the party is not surprised about Wike’s move because “it is a fact already known to many politicians and observers that Gov. Wike was thrown into his present panic mode ever since he failed in his desperate attempt to secure the presidential and later vice presidential tickets of his party in order to cover up financial and other atrocities he committed over the past 10 years as Minister of state for Education and presently governor of Rivers State for two terms, ending May 29, 2023.”

He said, “Governor Nyesom Wike’s predicament has not been helped by the inconclusive outcome of his offer to work for the Presidential Candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, in exchange for a safe landing and protection after the 2023 general election, having been convinced that Tinubu will defeat Atiku Abubakar of his party, the PDP.”

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Politics

Northern politicians wooing Buhari to unseat Tinubu, says Shehu Sani

Published

20 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Trends Admin

Northern politicians wooing Buhari to unseat Tinubu, says Shehu Sani

Senator Shehu Sani has alleged that northern politicians are working hard to woo Muhammadu Buhari in a plot to remove President Bola Tinubu from office ahead of 2027 presidential election.

He said the recent visits by the politicians to ex-President Buhari are part of the calculated moves to unseat Tinubu in the 2027 general election.

Indeed, the ex-senator noted that the northern politicians were interested in resurrecting Buhari’s political charm and fanaticism to mobilise the gullible people in the North for a selfish reason.

Newstrends recalls that many top northern politicians have recently visited Buhari in his Daura home, Katsina State.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Aminu Tambuwal, ex-governor of Sokoto, visited Buhari on June 22

About 24 hours after, Nasir el-Rufai, an ex-governor of Kaduna, also visited the former president.

In a statement on Monday, Sani said that though the visits were tagged as “Sallah homage,” they had a political undertone.

“The recent visits by some prominent northern politicians to Daura appear to be the usual Eid homage, but looking deeper and beyond the facade, it’s surreptitiously a new attempt to build a strong northern alliance using ex-President Buhari as a rallying point to challenge and evict President Tinubu’s government in 2027,” the statement read.

He also stated, “It’s a regrouping of Northern political forces for the next general election. A project that will eventually kiss the dust.

“They want to resurrect Buhari’s political charm and fanaticism and mobilise the gullible to another hollow and bewildering end.

“They want to stock up and light up the Arewa sentiment without considering the inferno it would eventually generate.”

Sani noted Buhari, a northerner who served as president for eight years, did not make a significant impact on the nation.

“They had power and wasted it. What do they want to do with it again?”

The former senator said, “A southerner is in power just for one year. It’s too early for the desperate and power-hungry northern elite to start plotting.

“The South never did that to Buhari. Their intended action has the capacity of ruining the democratic process and wrecking the fragile unity of the country when the south is awakened to this reality. Their obsession with power is condemnable.

“Opposition to Tinubu from the point of policies, promises and programs of his administration is a democratic right of any Nigerian.

“People have the right to speak and criticize the government. But attempts to whip up Northern sentiments to achieve their political ends is a dangerous political experiment and expedition at this material time.

“No serious southerner challenged Buhari for eight years. These power-drunk Northern politicians are dragging the region to a new political journey through a land mine.

“The Daura homage of the disgruntled and the obsessed will fail. Our people in the North should reject these faces and their plots.

“They have nothing to offer. From the abandoned Baro Port, Ajaokuta, Lake Chad basin refiling and Mambilla hydropower, they failed.”

Politics

PDP expels former Edo deputy governor, Philip Shaibu

Published

6 days ago

June 19, 2024

Trends Admin

Comrade Philip Shaibu

PDP expels former Edo deputy governor, Philip Shaibu

Former Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has been expelled from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Shaibu’s expulsion was announced on Wednesday by the leadership of the Edo chapter of the party.

The national vice chairman (South-South) of the party, Dan Orbih, was also expelled.

The development is contained in a statement issued in Benin by the party’s state publicity secretary, Ogie Vasco.

According to Vasco, Shaibu and Orbih were expelled for anti-party activities, according to PDP.

Vasco said also expelled for the same reason was Omorgie Ihama, a former House of Representatives member, who represented Oredo Federal Constituency.

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He said the decision was taken on Wednesday at a meeting attended by nine members of the state working committee at the party secretariat.

“The SWC has extensively deliberated on the issue and resolved to expel, with immediate effect, Chief Dan Orbih, National Vice Chairman South South.

“It also decided to expel Phillip Shaibu and upheld the expulsion of Ogbeide-Ihama from Ward 2, Oredo Local Government Area,” he said.

Reacting, Orbih told journalists that the body is not empowered to suspend a member of the national working committee or expel anybody without following the provision of the party’s constitution.

“When a group of persons sits down to make pronouncement that are unconstitutional it only showed that they are ignorant of the constitution of the party.

“That is all I have to say about that and nothing more,” Mr Orbih told journalists.

PDP expels former Edo deputy governor, Philip Shaibu

Politics

APC can no longer win elections except through rigging, says ex-party National VC Salihu Lookman

Published

2 weeks ago

June 13, 2024

Trends Admin

Former DG of Progressive Governors’ Forum and immediate-past National Vice Chairman, North West, Dr Salihu Lukman

APC can no longer win elections except through rigging, says ex-party National VC Salihu Lookman

Former Director General of Progressive Governors’ Forum PGF and immediate-past National Vice Chairman, North West, of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Salihu Lukman has ditched the party, saying it has outlived its usefulness and can no longer win elections without rigging.

In a statement, yesterday, Lukman said he found it necessary to write to a few leaders of the party and try to clarify his position regarding the situation both in the party and in the country.

He said: “First, it is a shared concern of most leaders of the party that the situation in the country has deteriorated in the last year since the assumption of office of President Bola Tinubu.

“Given a reality that the party structures have been demobilized and the government is implementing policies that have eroded the value of incomes of citizens, conditions of living are rapidly getting worse by the day. With that, both the APC and the governments it controls are getting more and more unpopular.

“It doesn’t require any investigation, at this rate, there is no way we can win election except through rigging. The popular saying in the country now is that President Tinubu is a one-term President. The hard truth is that the country will be lucky to get to 2027, without witnessing upheavals,” he stated.

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Lukman said given the experiences of Nigerians with both former President Muhammadu Buhari and now President Tinubu, Nigerians must learn the appropriate lessons by ensuring that moving forward, they must prioritise the development of a strong party organisation, which can subordinate the President and all elected representatives under the control of organs of the party.

“Given all this, it is not possible to remain in APC, if at all President Tinubu will allow internal reform in the party to return it to its founding vision, which as it is, is very remote. But my reality now in the party is that my membership has been rendered useless and there is no need for me to continue to impose myself.

“I have, therefore, gone back to the trenches and will try to work with all committed Nigerians, who agree and subscribe to the goal of actively campaigning for the survival and development of democracy in Nigeria. We must grow our democracy to the point whereby elected representatives at all levels are accountable to the party and it is possible for Nigerians represented by various interests to develop strong relationships with political parties and elected governments based on which policies of governments can be made to reflect wider interests of Nigerians.

“Although I pray that God Almighty will touch the heart of President Tinubu to make him recover whatever is left of his democratic credentials, I have lost hope that after one year of planless leadership, not much can be achieved during his tenure.

“It, therefore, behoves on all patriots, democrats and progressives in the country to take up the responsibility of organising and mobilising Nigerians towards rescuing Nigerian democracy. As it is, APC and the government of President Tinubu have been lost to the whirlwind. Just like we campaigned against military rule and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, we must rise to the task of campaigning against the President Asiwaju whirlwind,” he stated.