Featured
‘Supporting Sheriff, My Worst Mistake’ …Why We Changed Mind On Him – Fayose …Jonathan Denies Endorsement
The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, says assisting Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff to the position of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is one of the worst decisions he has made in his political career.
Reacting to the development during an interview on Sunday Politics, which was aired on Channels Television, Wike said he regretted bringing Sheriff into the fold of PDP.
The governor said the PDP would file for a stay of execution on the appeal court’s decision, adding that afterwards, an appeal would be filed at the Supreme Court.
The governor said he was shocked by the ruling and maintained that Sheriff had no good intention for the opposition party.
“I do believe that even in life, even as human beings, there are times for setbacks and challenges. What has happened to us is a temporary setback,” he said.
“I will not support anything that has to do with Sheriff. I know that he doesn’t mean well for the party.
“He’s a mole in the party. His antecedents tell you that there are people behind who are not members of the party, who do not want PDP to exist.
“I’m not new in this game. Even the characters around him, they don’t augur well for the party.
“That is one of the worst political decisions I’ve ever taken. In life, when you take a decision and you realise that you made a mistake, in that decision you made, there is nothing stopping you from saying, ‘I’ve made a mistake, I think we can correct it’.
“Frankly, I have never regretted any decision I’ve taken than this decision. Politically, we have seen his conduct. It has shown that he does not mean well for the party. It will be difficult for me to work with him. That is clear. I don’t have that confidence that he can lead the party.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Ayo Fayose, has said that unforeseen circumstances that sprang up after some leaders of the party (including himself) asked Ali Modu Sheriff to lead the PDP made them to change their minds about Sheriff’s competence.
Fayose, who was a guest on FOCUS NIGERIA, a live political programme on AIT, said Nigerians should stop viewing them as leaders that refuse to respect the rule of law but should understand that in politics, nothing is sacrosanct.
He explained that in a democracy which is characterized by a fragile political situation, circumstances can change in a minute and cause one to rethink the position on a particular issue.
The governor explained that it was until later that they discovered Sheriff lacked the capacity to lead an all-inclusive party like the PDP that has a good spread across the country. Hence, it was necessary to replace him.
Fayose said that the national convention of the party that was scheduled to hold in Port-Harcourt last year would have produced a South-Westerner from among Bode George, Jimi Agbaje, or Prof. Adeniran as national chairman, which would have put the leadership crisis in the party to rest, had that convention not been thwarted by Sheriff and his cohorts.
He said the choice of a Southerner for the national chairmanship position of the party was a common-sense fact and morally right since the party has decided that a Northerner will fly its flag in 2019.
The governor insisted that, for posterity sake, some leaders of the PDP will appeal the ruling of the appellate court that affirmed Sheriff as the leader of the party. He said the removal of Sheriff will bring a lasting solution to the crisis in the party, which, according to him, will fizzle out soon.
He said: “In politics, what you say today; circumstances can change it tomorrow. The reason is this; a minute is too long in politics. So many things can happen in politics. Nothing changes the party but it is the individuals in the party that makes things happen..
“These days, nobody has the right to zone any office to a particular geopolitical zone. Zoning is not in the constitution, Zoning is just a gentleman’s agreement that leadership should be rotational.
“If President Jonathan had allowed somebody in the North to contest for presidency under the PDP, President Buhari would not have had a field day in the North. Zoning is just common sense and morally right but it is not in the constitution of the party or the constitution of Nigeria.
“There are three ingredients that produce tomorrow in politics. They are the people, the party, and the candidate. I want to tell you the people component is the most important. Makarfi has the people of the party behind him.
“The amount of stalwarts that turned-up for the Makarfi stakeholders meeting shows you where the people are in the party.
“The PDP was founded on some many interests – the minority, the majority, everybody – it is an all-inclusive party that has a good spread. It is like a sleeping lion. So, anybody that is playing to the gallery or playing games with us should remember that what goes around will come around.
“Again let me tell you Ali Modu Sheriff joined PDP after a while. He will not say he is a founding member of the PDP. We will not abandon PDP to Sheriff or anybody. We will take the whole matter to a logical conclusion for posterity sake.
“To bring lasting peace in the PDP, we do not want Sheriff in any capacity in the party. That is the long and short of the solution to the PDP leadership crisis.
“If you want to lead PDP, there are certain things that must be part of the leadership qualities you must show. I reiterate we do not want Sheriff as our leader. Makarfi is our national chairman.
“This crisis will fizzle away. Let us watch and see.”
In another development, leaders of the two major factions of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, commenced a public campaign to woo the support of the party base, with Governor Ayodele Fayose, saying Senator Ali Modu Sheriff prostrated before some governors to be made national chairman at the botched national convention in Port Harcourt.
The bid for support came as former President Goodluck Jonathan disclaimed Tuesday’s newspaper reports that he endorsed Senator Sheriff as national chairman when Sheriff team visited him, Monday. In repudiating the reports, Jonathan also disclosed that he also, Monday, received the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led executive and the Board of Trustees in his ongoing efforts to mediate in the crisis.
Senator Makarfi’s spokesman, Prince Dayo Adeyeye and Governor Ayodele Fayose, representing the Makarfi mainstream and Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, Deputy National Chairman, representing the Sheriff faction, were among the leading factional leaders who went on a circuit of the morning chat shows in Abuja, yesterday.
Protagonists on the side of the Makarfi executive reiterated their allegation of the involvement of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the crisis in the party, alleging a plot by the administration to kill opposition in the country. The assertion was dismissed, yesterday, evening by the APC which in a statement, denied any role in the crisis in the opposition party and also in the barricading, on Monday, of the International Conference Centre earlier slated for the meeting of the Makarfi group.
Meanwhile, media aide to Dr Jonathan, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, while noting that the former president was playing a mediatory role, said members of the Makarfi executive were also received by the former President on Monday.
He stated that Jonathan opened his doors to Sheriff upon his request, just as he had earlier done to the Makarfi-led caretaker committee members, adding that the former President was prepared to broker more talks until the issues in the leadership of the PDP were finally resolved. He said: “Indeed, it may interest you to know that after meeting with Sheriff, the former President also met with Senator Ahmed Makarfi, leader of the PDP Caretaker Committee, and the party’s Board of Trustees chairman, Senator Walid Jubril, later in the evening.”
Eze emphasised that “as a peace-loving leader of the party, the former President’s interest is to help reposition PDP to enable it play a constructive role in the affairs of the nation, in view of the imperative of deepening the nation’s democracy.”444
Letters
Ban On Christians Fellowship In Universities
If the story making the rounds on two Nigerian universities being sued for allegation of their ban on Christian fellowship in the campus is anything to go by, then Nigeria is in for another trouble.
According to the story, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Katsina State branch, in conjunction with an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International), has instituted an action against two universities in Katsina State for indefinitely banning Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campuses.
The suit was said to have been filed against the two universities for violating the right to religious freedom by “indefinitely prohibiting” Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campus.
The Christian legal advocacy group further alleged that one of the universities enforced the ban by locking all worship and fellowship centre on university grounds, preventing Christian students and groups from accessing the facilities and banning them from meeting for worship and fellowship elsewhere on campus while their Muslim counterparts at both universities have been permitted to hold worship and fellowship meetings in university-constructed worship and meeting spaces.
Recall that in 2017, there was a news report on the outlaw of any other religious or tribal association on campus besides the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria by the authorities of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina, Katsina State. A circular credited to the institution’s acting Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Sulaiman Kankara, which was later disowned by the university, contained the directive.
The last time I checked, Nigeria is a democratic, circular state where every individual is free to practise any religion of her choice. Section 38 of the Nigerian constitution provides: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
It is therefore wrong for a public university to indulge in this discriminatory act. A university is supposed to be an intellectual environment where people should be allowed some level of freedom. There must be robust fellowship and inter-faith relationship. People must be able to relate with each other without any discrimination or stigmatisation.
Knowing how delicate issues on religion are in Nigeria, one hopes that the authorities of the institutions concerned should swiftly look into the report and retrace their steps. The court should be objective in deciding the case and give students of other religions some leverage of freedom. It must be stated that the judgment on this case should not be delayed to avoid any retaliation in other parts of the country.
We already have a lot of issues to deal with in the country. Adding a religious crisis to it could be disastrous. Any university established and funded by either the federal, state or local government, should have freedom of religion. Let there be no more trouble in the country, please.
Waheed Abiodun,
Victoria Street,
Port Harcourt Township.
The NIMC, NCC Partnership
Reports have it that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed that they have partnered to enhance seamless linkage of National Identification Number-SIM across the federation.
Both Commissions said that in recognising the significance of this initiative in enhancing security and improving service delivery, they were committed to improving processes and enhancing efficiency.
This is a welcome development. It has been worrisome why Nigerians should be made to go through the rigorous process of linking their National Identification Number (NIN) with their phone numbers every now and then. Some people who engage in online transactions have recorded some losses over the past few weeks as some internet providers barred their lines due to their inability to successfully do the linkage.
Two weeks ago, I went to a High Court for an official engagement and was shocked to see the number of people seeking to get court affidavits for the linkage of the NIN with the phone numbers so that their line will be unbarred.
It is therefore hoped that the NIMC, NCC partnership will remove all the bottlenecks surrounding the Nin, SIM linkage and make the process very seamless. It is also hoped that this will be the beginning of the process of proper identity management in the country and gradual collapse of all the various forms of identification – Drivers Licence, Voters Card, NIMC card. Bank cards etc into one identity card so that one would not have to be moving around with loads of identity cards.
Ebele Ubani,
Jabi, Abuja.
The Unwanted Strike
Just when the students of Nigeria public universities are rejoicing that there had been a no interruption in the universities’ academic calendar for sometiime, the news about the warning strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), broke.
The Joint Action Committee of the two organisations had directed members to commence a seven day warning strike last week, following the federal government’s inability to pay their four months’ withheld salary.
I do not even understand why the government should allow labour unions to down tools before acting on their demands. Did President Bola Tinubu not direct that university workers that were on prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries stopped by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after the invocation of “No Work, No Pay” policy, should be paid four months of the withheld salaries?
Have members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) not been paid in line with the president’s directive? Why were SSANU, NASU and unions concerned not paid? These bodies issued an ultimatum to the federal government. Why was there no effort to address their grievances within the window period?
It is said that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So, the government, having paid ASUU, should also endeavour to settle SSANU and NASU so that there shall be no interruption in our academic calendar. We did no wrong by choosing public universities. Government, ASUU, SSANU, NASU and what have you should let us learn in peace and graduate at the record time like our colleagues in private universities, please.
IB Michael,
University of Port Harcourt,
Port Harcourt.
Letters
Obi Should Do More, Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage, Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
Obi Should Do More
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has continued to voice out his opinion on the happenings in the country. On the budget padding scandal currently rocking the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he has told the Senate to provide Nigerians with some explanations on the matter.
He said the claims and counter-claims over the alleged N3 Trillion which was alleged by Senator Abdul Ningi to have been padded into the 2024 budget, requires proper explanation as to what Nigerians must need to know regarding management of the nation’s, insisting that the suspension of Senator Ningi for three months does not address the issue.
The Labour party chieftain had also expressed his concern over the hunger in the country a few days ago. He raised the alarm that Nigerians were spending all their money on food.
It is commendable of Obi to have stood with the masses at this critical time in the nation’s history and be critical of negative happenings in the country and bad government policies. However, Obi should do more than just criticising. It is said that “a tree cannot make a forest”. Therefore, Obi should galvanise all the law makers both on the national and state levels to tow the same line with him, which should be seen as the position of the Labour Party.
In 2023, there was a revolution in the country. People of all walks of life, of various religions and tribes trouped out in support of the labour party because they believed in Mr Peter Obi. People saw the Labour Party as a needed alternative to the two most populous political parties, PDP and APC. Based on Obi’s personality and popularity, some people who ordinarily would not have won councillorship positions in their communities were elected into state and national assemblies. Many of them won the elections for free, spending no shi shi.
Painfully, after assuming the exalted positions, many of them, especially those in the national assembly seem to have forgotten the masses. It is now business as usual. Among the seven senators and 36 House of Representative members of the Labour Party in the National Assembly, which one of them has moved a strong motion about the hardship currently being faced by the masses and how to address it? How many of them stood by Senator Ningi on the budget padding revelation? What out the exotic cars distributed to them, how many of them advised that they should go for less expensive cars and the excess money channelled into developmental projects? It has become a case of one not talking while on the dining table, right?
Obi should be able to organise his party to form a formidable opposition and a party that does things differently, a party that stands with the people. If the labour party elected political office holders carry on the way they have done since they came into office, they will keep de-marketing their party, forgetting that 2027 is just around the corner.
Ngozi Omeje,
Umuahia, Abia State.
Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage
I have followed the discussion on the proposed new minimum wage with keen interest and I just hope the leadership of the organised labour will be firm enough to represent the workers and refuse to fall prey to the ploy to disunite them.
It is disheartening seeing workers come up with different amounts as the proposed minimum wage. While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, demanded that South-West states should pay N794,000 the Trade Union Congress, TUC, asked for N447,000. Similarly, workers in the Federal Capital Territory demanded N709,000, while their counterparts in the North-West clamoured for N485,000.
This idea of singing in discordant tunes is not good for strong unionism. I recall my days as a civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo state. That was during the time of Adams Oshiomhole as the National President of the NLC. The labour union was a force to be reckoned with and whenever the workers barked, the government caught cold. The increase in workers’ wages was fought for as body. There was nothing like federal workers going to the left and the state workers going to the right. Of course then, in 2000, the TUC did not exist as a separate body. The entire workers spoke in unison.
Yes, the states did reserve the right to say whether they can pay the national minimum wage or not but the national body of the NLC was carried along in the negotiation. Please, the NLC and TUC should come together and present a common front in the new minimum wage quest and ensure that workers in the states also get a fair deal. If not, some of the greedy governors will continue to subject the workers to hardship.
Pa Micheal Adeniran,
Rumuogba Housing Estate, Port Harcourt.
Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
“Today, he’s responding to a remark by the Governor that has nothing to do with him. The opposition is urging the Senate president to be mindful of his utterances. How can he turn the burial of late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son, such a sad moment, to a political attack?. It’s disappointing. That’s political recklessness taken too far. We, the opposition parties, won’t tolerate such utterances anymore if it continues.”
Above was the response of a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, unguarded remark on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s comment during the burial of the late Access Holdings Plc GCEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son last weekend.
It is hoped that Akpabio will heed to the advice and learn how to talk in public. Tracing his character as a public servant and political office holder in various capacities over the years, one would notice that the senate president lacks the act of public speaking and carriage.
Was it not recently that he announced that the clerk of the house had sent money to each of the senators’ personal account for their holiday enjoyment only to be called to other and he changed it to ”In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” What about the “honourable minister off your mic” shameful display.
Whoever wants to die seeking public/political office should go ahead but leave our dear governor alone.
Loveth Opusunju
Minima, Opobo, Rivers State.
Featured
Fubara Promises Rivers Support For Wigwe Varsity …Cautions Political Class On Power Tussle
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised the state government’s commitment to supporting Wigwe University.
Fubara disclosed this on Saturday after the funeral service of the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, in Isiokpo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Wigwe, alongside his wife, Doreen, and son, Chizzy, died in a helicopter crash in California near the Nevada border, United States of America.
Also involved in the crash was the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The governor said, “I want to say our brother has finished his work, though short. We, as a government, will do everything with the Wigwe Foundation to immortalise one thing.
“It is not the bank, the bank might have a new identity, a new boss to run it, other ventures will also have their names; but one thing that has his name is Wigwe University.
“We will do everything within our power to make sure the dream will continue to live just as he has planned it.”
Fubara questioned the mourners as to why they kept chasing worldly desires, stressing the significance of impacting lives rather than struggling for power.
“This one has to do with the political class, what is all these struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury, what is it all about?
“This is a man who was not a politician, he made his money through our investments, he had the world in his palm financially, he controlled even the political classes; but today, with all the power financially couldn’t control life. Is it not enough to ask ourselves why are we struggling? Why are we not making an impact on the lives of our people?” he queried.
Dignitaries present at the funeral service include the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , Sanusi Lamido; Governors Alex Otti (Abia) Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sawwo-Olu (Lagos).
Other dignitaries are former governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Peter Obi (Anambra), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Bukola Saraki (Kwarra), and James Ibori (Delta), among others.
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