Politics

South-East PDP demands Atiku’s VP slot, party dismisses Obi’s threat

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The Peoples Democratic Party in the South-East is reaching out to the leadership of the party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to ensure that the PDP standard-bearer picks his running mate from the zone, The PUNCH has learnt.

It was gathered that the leadership of the party in the South-East argued that having failed to cede the presidential ticket to the zone, which had consistently supported the PDP since 1999, the only thing left for the party was to cede the vice-presidential slot to it.

Atiku had in May emerged the winner of the PDP presidential primary after defeating other aspirants including a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim and an ex-President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Sam Ohuabunwa.

After the PDP primary, the apex socio-cultural organisation for the Igbo, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, criticised the party for betraying the zone.

 

A few days to the primary, Atiku’s running mate in 2019, Mr Peter Obi, dumped the party and joined the Labour Party on whose platform he would contest the 2023 presidential election.

There has been growing support for Obi since he joined the LP. Analysts have warned that Obi’s defection to the LP may affect the chances of the PDP in the South-East, where its presidential candidate got 1.6 million votes in 2019 against over 403,000 votes garnered by the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

The Publicity Secretary of the Anambra State PDP, Nnamdi Nwagwu, in an interview with The PUNCH, confirmed that the South-East had demanded the vice-presidential slot like the South-South.

He noted that both the PDP and the APC had sidelined the South-East, adding that it was only in the PDP that the zone could get the VP slot.

He added that only the VP slot could, at least, secure votes for the party in the South-East.

He said, “They (South-East leaders) are making such a demand for the VP slot. Let us see how it goes. They are making the demand because every party has sidelined the South-East and it is only in the PDP that they can get the VP slot because they cannot get it from the APC as the APC already has a southern presidential candidate.

“Only the VP slot can secure votes for the party in the zone, if not, it will be difficult to wrest the votes of the region from Peter Obi. And let us see how it goes if the VP slot will be given or not.”

On its part, the Imo State chapter of the PDP said that it was not perturbed by the growing acceptability of Obi in the South-East.

The Director-General of the New Media of the PDP in the state, Collins Opuruzor, said that the PDP in the region was not worried about Obi’s candidature.

He said that the party was mobilising for the victory of the PDP not only in the South-East but also across the country.

Opuruzor said that the PDP presidential candidate could win the presidential election in 2023.

When contacted, the National Vice-Chairman of the PDP (South-East zone), Chief Ali Odefa, said, “I’m not the National Chairman of the party to comment on this. Contact the National Chairman of the party for this, please.”

But the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologbunagba, in an interview with one of our correspondents, dismissed Obi’s popularity.

On whether the party considered Obi’s growing support as a threat, Ologbunagba said, “When we talk about popularity, that is your assessment and you are entitled to it. When we get to the polls, the popularity will reveal itself.

“We are not talking about somebody’s popularity. That is not what we are talking about. We are focused on our party. That is the important thing. We are focused on what we are doing and what we will do for Nigerians. We are focused on insecurity, our kids being out of school for one year.”

Also, a former presidential aspirant of the PDP, Sam Ohuabunwa, said in picking a running mate, the party would choose somebody who could bring votes.

He stated, “The PDP leadership will do a lot of hard work and will not just focus on dividing the so-called Obi’s votes in the South-East and while he may also have followers outside his region, we are not sure yet. All we see now is social media hype. We cannot be sure until we get to the polls. What we read in the media may not be what happens in real life.”

But the Spokesman, Peter Obi Support Network, Sani Altukry, took a swipe at the PDP.

According to Altukry, the Peter Obi phenomenon is now a national movement and revolution that will bring an end to the PDP and the APC.

He said, “Some say it is a revolution, a present reality that will bring an end to the PDP and the APC as major political parties because they failed to do the right thing.

“They failed to address the yearnings of Nigerians for equity and justice. And they have also failed the youth of this country. The youth yearn for good government, an end to ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) strike and graduate unemployment. The youth are angry that Nigeria is today the poverty capital of the world because of the PDP and the APC misrule and Peter Obi’s rallying cry to move the country from consumption to production is a rallying cry for hope.”

He added that the ‘Peter Obi Movement’ was also a protest against the injustice meted out to the people of southern Nigeria when the PDP failed to zone the presidency to the South.

“Mark my words, the PDP will receive the shock of its life as its presidential candidate will come second runner-up while Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will emerge as a winner in the 2023 presidential election. It is quite unfortunate that the party lost its followers due to injustice,” he added.

Atiku, PDP leaders

Meanwhile, The PUNCH learnt that Atiku and the PDP leaders would meet on Tuesday (today) to decide on the southern zone the running mate would emerge from.

An Atiku’s loyalist, who disclosed this to one of our correspondents, however, declined to give details of the venue.

The PDP chieftain said, “It is the prerogative of the candidate and the party. We have not arrived at anything; that is the truth. But a decision would be made at the meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday).”

A professor of Political Science at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Emmanuel Onyebuchi, stated that the PDP made a mistake by allowing Obi to exit the party. He said the ex-Anambra governor is so popular that political parties and their presidential candidates could not dismiss his winning capacity as a running mate.

Tinubu

In a related development, a ranking member of the House of Representatives, Aminu Suleiman, has stated that the APC is still in control of Kano State, adding the party and its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, will get block votes in the state.

A former Governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, a few months ago, dumped the PDP and joined the New Nigeria People’s Party, where he emerged as the presidential candidate.

Many politicians in the state, including ex-Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, have defected from the PDP and the APC to join Kwankwaso in the NNPP

Commenting on the development, Suleiman said, “What people describe as the tsunami of Kwankwaso are just the usual occurrences when elections are approaching. Mind you, those who left our party left because they either lost out at the primaries or they feared that they might lose (election).

“I concede to the fact that Kwankwanso is a household name. He is a politician of repute but I can tell you that the APC is still the party to beat in Kano.”

Speaking on the chances of the APC and Tinubu getting block votes despite the NNPP’s growing popularity, the lawmaker set the condition with which the ruling party would retain the control of Kano.

“If the APC gets its act together very well like it did in the primary and chooses a running mate that is capable of attracting votes for Tinubu and not for any primordial interest, I can tell you that it is a done deal for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

But Ibrahim Adam, the media aide to Kwankwaso, expressed optimism that the NNPP would win the presidential election. Adams, in an interview with The PUNCH, stated, “The APC and the PDP have failed woefully in taking Nigeria to the Promised Land. Based on this conviction, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso dumped the two parties.”

Youths from the North-East on Monday appealed to the leadership of the APC to consider zoning the slot for the running mate to any of the states in their region.

The youths argued that the move was necessary if the APC was serious about its plan to neutralise the threat by the PDP.

This was contained in a statement by the Chairman of the North-East APC Youth Stakeholders Forum, Haruna Sardauna, on Monday.

On its part, the Christian Association of Nigeria (Youth Wing) on Monday protested against the Muslim-Muslim ticket being proposed by the APC.

The President of YOWICAN, Belusochukwu Enwere, told journalists that the call for a Muslim-Muslim ticket by certain individuals was callous and deceptive.

Also, the Ijaw Youth Council said on Monday that it had written to the leading political parties to consider some eligible youths as running mates of their presidential candidates for the forthcoming 2023 general election.

The national spokesman for the IYC, Ebilade Ekerefe, who disclosed this at a press conference to commemorate this year’s Democracy Day in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, listed the youths to include Dr Ibrahim Bello Dauda from Borno State, Chief Igho Charles Sanomi (Delta State) and Herbert Wigwe (Rivers State).

He said the three of them were eminently qualified to occupy the vice presidency and contribute to national development, stressing that they were chosen after due consultations by youths from the Niger Delta region and the other five geopolitical zones.

According to him, the leading political parties would benefit from the choice of the suggested three names because “youths have the largest percentage ratio of the electorate and are most affected by the type of leadership produced.”

Ekerefe said, “We have written to leading political parties on the need to allow youthful personalities as vice presidential candidates. We have many youths, including Dr. Ibrahim Bello Dauda from Borno State (APC); Chief Igho Charles Sanomi, a business mogul from Agbor, Delta State; Mr Hebert Wigwe, a CEO of one of Nigeria’s leading banks from Rivers State; young qualified governors, among many others in the country”.

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Appeal Court Sacks Kwankwaso Reinstate Datti in Kano

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The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday sacked Musa Ilyasu Kwankwaso of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and reinstated Yusuf Umar Datti of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the Kura/Madobi/Garun Malam Federal Constituency Election.

It was reported that the three-panel led by Justice Tunde Oyebamiji Awotoye allowed an Appeal by Yusuf Datti and averred that the tribunal was wrong to have counted the date of the Appellant’s resignation on the date of his party’s primary election and that Section 77 of the Electoral Act was misapplied.

The appellate court stated that no court has jurisdiction on the issue of membership of the part.

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Hon. Debo Badru Appointed As Member Of Committee On Guideline For Repositioning of APC In Osun state

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Debo Badru

Debo Badru Appointed As Member Of The Committee On The Guideline For Repositioning of APC In Osun state

The Executive Council of the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has named Hon. Debo Badru as part of the 11-member committee on the Guideline for the Repositioning of the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Osun State.

Hon Debo Badru, former Special Adviser to ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola on Intergovernmental Political Affairs who is from Iwo Local Government of Osun State is a respected community leader who holds a Diploma from Nigerian Air Force Technical Training School, Kaduna, and served as an Air Force Officer between 1983 and 1990 after which he ventured into politics.

Going forward, the guideline committee which was unveiled on the 16th of October, 2023 also has the Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, the immediate-past Speaker of the state House of Assembly, as its Chairman while the Secretary is Hon Sunday Akere, former state Commissioner for Information.

Other members of the committee are Dr Oyebade Olowogboyega, the immediate-past State Head of Service; Hon Funmi Olaseinde, former member of the state House of Assembly; Dr. Adeniji Adekunle, former Chairman, Ife-Central Local Government Council Area of the state.

Also on the list as members are Hon Hakeem Atanda; Hon Rasaq Adeosun, former Special Adviser to ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Hon(Mrs) Ayo Omidiran, former member, House of Representatives who represented Irewole/Isokan/Aiyedaade Federal Constituency; Hon Femi Kujembola, the state Treasurer of the party and one-time Chairman of Atakumosa-East Local Government Council Area of the state and Comrade Kehinde Ayantunji, former Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to former Governor Oyetola on Youths and Students’ Affairs.

It would be recalled that the state leader of the party, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Oyetola, inaugurated the APC repositioning committee in the state sometime ago.

The APC Repositioning Committee under the chairmanship of Prof Adewole submitted the report of the committee with fanfare in Osogbo recently with a pledge by Alhaji Oyetola and the state chairman of the party, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, to implement the recommendations to the letter.

The terms of reference of the guideline committee are:

1) Collation of actionable recommendations from the report of the Repositioning Committee;

2) Development of the framework for implementing the recommendations of the Repositioning Committee’s report;

3) This Committee will liaise with the party organ at the state level in order to kickstart implementation.

4) The Committee should provide a final report in two weeks.

 

e-SIGNED:

 

Sooko TAJUDEEN LAWAL,

Chairman,
Osun State APC.

 

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PBAT’s Reforms and Nigerian Youths by Amb. Habeeb Whyte Esq.,MBA

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Habeeb Whyte

PBAT’S REFORMS AND NIGERIAN YOUTHS

I remain Habeeb Whyte and I still harbour the responsibility. I believe life placed on me to suggest a path deserving a collective action from Nigerian youths towards the faith of our father’s land and in determining our own future.
I have grown to know that everything that irritates us as Nigerian youths about someone can lead us to understanding the person more. Just like Adlous Hoxley puts it, ‘there are things known and there are things unknown and in between are door of perception’. What we are, is what we have been as youths. What we would be is what we do now. I am aware that wisdom comes from knowing that what others say about you is not your reality. It is their reality. One has not only an ability to perceive the world but an ability to alter one’s perception of it.Simply, one can change things by the manner in which one looks at them. Reality is only a reflection of our own intentions, biases, knacks and desires.

I have always looked with a different lens because I have kept my views informed not by parochial considerations or personal gains but by the solemn embrace of the fate of my realities as a Nigerian Youth. As a person, I have thoroughly taken caution on the realities of the general elections that ushered in President Bola Ahmad Tinubu. I have always known that only weak minds stay at the middle of the road in trying periods like this. I rather I appreciate that I have to painstakingly learn with the willingness to unlearn and relearn the politics of this country. More so, I was not born until the crisis had started. I do not want to join the bandwagon of commentators that make opinions on issues they know close to nothing about. I think this should be the wisest path for anybody that was only a child through the 90’s and beyond. The generational paradigm as it affects our choice of governance differs. Our reasoning often time is shapedby what our parents, teachers and elderly ones told us and not by what we participated in as major players.

We have only participated in the Occupy Nigeria campaign, Not Too Young to Run campaign and the most pronounced is the End Sars campaign. I made bold to say that I partook in all the major phases of this campaign. I made my voice seen and felt by demanding for good governance and importantly, youth involvement in governance. I know that at a point. I am aware that in the past, no place was reserved for members of the youth constituency during policy formulations. We were weathered with policies that seem not to be too friendly to our growth but now the story has changed. There was a progressive call that was obeyed by the people in power. Allahu Akbar!!!

Having fought for what was right, we became enemies to our progression by allowing the fate of governance ushered in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his political opponents to take the spaces where the world is judging us from. Our attitude across our social media platforms on our leaders is not worthy at all. We are distracted while these persons are living their lives – Their dreams. We are allowing men make mockery of our intelligence by sheepishly dragging us into the fate of their own dark hour. Are they better of Mr. President? We should better be concerned on how to help Mr. President achieve his goals. It should interest us that we have a listening leader and someone who prioritizes our constituency before any other constituency. The deliberate reason why some of us supported President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was because we saw him as that leader that would pave the way for the youths to become real stakeholders in governance.Every time Mr. President speaks to us a Nation, he continually emphasizes our importance. He gives us score cards but we are not really interested in assessing same with good critics. He kept on appointing and giving us key responsibilities at sectors that we would not have imagined any one from our constituency at earliest time like this to be in such position. I am aware that Mr. President is not only fulfilling his election promises but he is carrying the youths along towards achieving a sustainable future for this Nation. There is a steady engagement and participation of young people in the development process. A country we prayed for!

I used to live in fear when discussions that bother on handing over of power to youths is concerned. This is because, I could picture the future as it would unfold should that happen. Why? Because, we Nigerian youths were not prepared for the role and we fail to recognize the fact that there has been deliberate effort to incapacitate us. This is what I mean whenever I talk about bastardization of our youths. Now, we are beginning to have a fair share of our lack of preparedness. What ideas are our representatives across board bringing onboard? Are we still bothered on who won or loss election? Are we still bent on why President Tinubu should not have won the elections while our various State Governors are getting palliatives from Federal Government and we are not seeing the effect in most States. I wish the type of energy deployed to bringing down the person of Mr. President could be extended to demanding for good governance from our Governors. Demanding accountability especially on the proceed of subsidy is concerned would have been true patriotism than the former. We are not even bothered that local governments are been buried in governance by most Governors in Nigeria. Are we not worried about the debt profile of some States and yet there is no evidence of development.  The States that most of us we inherit as Governors, Senators, House of Representative members, House of Assembly members etc. as far as governance is concerned in years to come. What do we tend to make up as leaders of our generation; when our kids start asking questions, what type of answers are we planning to give them. Is it that we would be comfortable telling them that when we had a President with unprecedented electoral results and tribunal verdict, we were busy playing cards of his opponents. Would it not interest you to tell your kids you were part of those that speak and do good for the sake of the Country and not because you are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo. You were a Nigerian before you identify as a Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo. This is us – that have forgotten so soon that most of our Governors are yet to publish the judgements of their respective tribunal of enquiries on the End Sars saga. It is just ridiculous that we are have been soaked into another narrative that would not add any legal value to our corporate existence. Whether bitter or sweet, Mr. President is here to stay.

PRESIDENT TINUBU APPOINTS NEW EFCC CHAIRMAN AND SECRETARY OF THE COMMISSION

We must accept this reality and not be caught in a web of a divided society. We must give our total support to the social governance policy trust fund of Mr. President. He has tagged it the ‘Renewed Hope’ – we already have a developmental plan as opposed the several documents of plans and agenda intentioned on sentiments and prepared without national interests. We are beginning to see the light that we would be handed a working country with national development agenda under implementation, and enjoy the supervision of patriotic elders whose only consideration is national interest. The fact is this, we have a President that has placed upon himself the responsibility to provide the reference point of discipline, patriotism, humility, and adequate sense of self by extending his limits beyond the average standard that is acceptable to his generation. Mr. President has succeeded in employing his political authority to stimulate hope and pride in the corporate purpose of this Nation. We must not be used as detractors to the birth of a New Nigeria. Interestingly, youths of India, Singapore, Brazil, China and Indonesia compete with the world’s best in Information Technology, Agriculture, Entertainment, Alternative energy, Medicine etc.  Of course, those building our bridges and roads are their own youths. The expatriate doctors in our best hospitals are their youths. Those designing and building the phones we use are their youths. Now, our own youths are already leading spaces more due to the deliberate intervention of Mr. President’s faith in our abilities.

I could remember that one of the assurances of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the Southwest APC Youths rally was that Mr. President would give opportunities to youths to flourish in their areas of activities, the Governor said young people would be part of the major drivers of the Tinubu presidency. This is never in doubt again. Mr. President in less than six months of Presidency has the highest number of youths in key and strategic positions in Government. The amazing part is that, Mr. President is not stopping. I would always wish for a productive mindset like that of our President. He is a thorough blend of the mosaictraits – he would lead the path to the New Nigeria. The path he kicks started from his very first appointment in office. It is unprecedented. If he is not the Messiah; he is the Moses.

Thanks.

Amb. Habeeb Whyte Esq., MBA.

(WHYTE is a Lawyer, Author, Advocate of Youth Involvement in Good Governance, United Nations Award winner, Regional Africa International Arbitration Award winner, Coca cola/The Nation Campuslife Award winner, Quill Promasidor runner up for Best Future Writer in Nigeria, Royal Ambassador for the Royal Court of Ife Kingdom, Ecowas Youth Ambassador, Cordinator – BAT Lawyers Ogun State and Secretary – Cityboy Movement Ogun State).

Email: whyte287@gmail.com

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