Featured
Obasanjo Exposes Corruption, Nepotism In Buhari’s Govt – Secondus …Wants Constituencies Decide Representatives In 2019 …As PDP Replies Obasanjo On S’ Court Ruling
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus said in Abuja yesterday that the All Progressives Congress had become a lame duck after former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him not to seek re-election.
He said that the letter also exposed the corruption and nepotism in the Buhari administration.
Secondus spoke when he and members of the party National Working Committee met with former ministers who served under the PDP regime in Abuja.
He insisted that that APC has failed “woefully” since 2015 when it assumed leadership of the country.
He urged PDP politicians, who are interested in contesting 2019 elections, to be free to express their desire, saying that the party has opened its door for all, adding that PDP will ensure it conducts transparent primaries guided by the constitution of the party.
He also charged the former ministers to mobilise their constituents ahead of the 2019 elections, saying that was an opportunity for PDP to get back to power.
He said, “The NWC is also putting all the necessary strategies together, and we assure you that come 2019, Nigerians will vote for PDP. APC has failed woefully.
“Our nation is in a situation where PDP must save this nation from total collapse. The government of APC and the APC itself have become a lame duck after former President Obasanjo released a political tsunami and verdict on the government.
“His letter chronicled happenings in the government and the country. It is red card for this ineptitude government and we all support Obasanjo’s position.”
To return to power in 2019, he charged the former ministers to have confidence in the leadership of PDP, saying that the party was ready to interact with Nigerians at any level.
He said, “Those of you who are interested to vie for one office or the other, we want to assure you that our doors are very open.
“The best way to go from where we found ourselves today is to make sure that we conduct very transparent elections, be it the congresses or the primaries.
“I want to assure that the old system of imposition or any other thing that will go contrary to our constitution will be far off from the NWC members, we will not go that way.
“We will go strictly and abide by our constitution and our rules. That is the promise of the NWC. Our laws must be obeyed, our rules must be obeyed, we must follow them in order to restore confidence to our people.”
Secondus disclosed that the party would also devolve power, “because, over the years, so much powers have been concentrated at the centre.”
He also said, “And we discovered that the only way to do it is to devolve power to the grassroots. And our slogan explained it all, power to the people. So the people at home can decide, not the people in Abuja or NWC.
“Let the people at the various constituents and states decide who will represent them, it will make the election easy for us.”
The Chairman said that the NWC was also putting the necessary strategies together, and “will we assure that come 2019, that Nigerians will vote for PDP. APC has failed woefully.”
Responding, the Chairman of former Ministers Forum who was a former Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Kabiru Turaki (SAN), said that with the kind of leaders the party has, “the war to bring back what rightly belongs to us has started.
“We said it that there are only two political parties, PDP and the rest. Even the ones that people thought were political parties, people have realised that they are mere associations and clubs that have come together, wreaking havoc on our democracy. Nigerians have seen them for what they are.
“I want to call on you to open your doors very wide because all those that are real politicians, all those that are Democrats will come back home and we are ready for them.
“As you begin your crusade of saving democracy in Nigeria, crusade of saving Nigeria from hunger, from poverty, from insecurity, from hopelessness and joblessness, it should be at the back of your mind that the colossal knowledge, experience and technical know-how at the disposal of the former ministers is there for you to tap.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman, National Reconciliation Committee of the PDP who is also the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Henry Dickson has called for more understanding and solidarity amongst all aspirants of the party.
Dickson, who made the call yesterday at the party’s Secretariat in a meeting with some of the aspirants in the last convention, also begged members of the party to stop defecting.
“I call on our members to stop defecting to other side. They should stop the crossover. We should all stay back to rebuild, reposition and be with the party, “ he added.
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has advised leaders of the party to allow people at the grassroots decide their representatives in the 2019 general elections.
Secondus gave the advice during the interactive session of the National Working Committee (NWC) with the former PDP Ministers Forum,yesterday in Abuja.
He said allowing people to decide their representatives would make the elections easier for the PDP. The national chairman said in accordance with the slogan of the party, “Power to the People”, the PDP NWC intended to devolve power to the grassroots.
“You are aware we are not in government at the centre, so the only way is to make sure that the choice of the people are the best.
“If it is the popular choice of the people, the people will stand by them and elections become easy for us to win.
“The NWC is also putting all the necessary strategies together, and we assure that come 2019, Nigerians will vote for PDP, “ Secondus said.
He said that the best way to go for PDP is to make sure its elections are transparent; be it congresses or the primaries.
Secondus, who described the former ministers as key factors in the PDP, said the NWC was ready to work with them.
He charged the forum members to move to their constituencies and reignite the party by assuring them that power belongs to the people.
“Very soon, we shall roll out our programme. We are going back to online membership drive and it is going to be aggressive.
“We also want to assure you that members of the NWC are not ready to seat at Wadata, in the confines of air-conditioning.
“We want to roll out our programme and move to the States and the local governments, and we will get to the wards and if possible the units, to seek for membership.”
In his response, Chairman of the Former Ministers Forum, Tanimu Turaki, said with the current NWC, the war to bring back what rightly belongs to the people had started.
He advised the NWC to work with members of the forum in its crusade of saving Nigeria democracy, and the country from hunger, poverty, insecurity, hopelessness and joblessness.
“Whenever people criticise PDP, they are not criticising PDP for what it has done or not done for the party, they are criticising PDP for what it has done in government.
“So, the best set of people who are positioned to respond to those kinds of criticisms would be those who have served in government.
“These are people who have knowledge of what was done and what has not been done.
“These are the people who are aware of why those decisions, some of which have been very painful, had to be taken in the overall interest of Nigeria,” Turaki said.
He assured the NWC of the forum’s maximum support, saying:”when you move into the trenches, you will meet us there waiting for you”.
Similary, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s allegation that the party had procured judgments of the Supreme Court in the string of litigations that trailed the victory of many of its governors in the 2015 elections.
In a statement, last Wednesday by PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said it never attempted or ever procured judgements from any court after the elections, adding that it represents the true coalition of Nigerians from across the country.
It added that its experience in governance and successful rebound from challenges has provided it an edge over every other existing or intended political platforms in the country.
It would be recalled that in his recent letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, Obasanjo had accused a certain PDP governor in the South-South of seeking to take control of the opposition party, simply because he procured the judgment of the apex court in respect of the cases involving a number of PDP governors.
“The PDP did not procure judgment from the Supreme Court contrary to the unsubstantiated claims made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his letter advising President Muhammadu Buhari not to seek re-election in 2019.
“Obasanjo’s claim on procurement of judgement amounts to an ill-intended attempt to impugn on the integrity of the Supreme Court, particularly when such a claim is false and not predicated on any empirical proof.
“The party said that the ruling of the Supreme Court, which ended the protracted internal feud within its fold, rather than detract, reinforced the confidence of Nigerians in the PDP as the platform that truly embodies the resilience of a genuine democratic process in the face of daunting challenges.
“Even the worst critics of PDP concede that the judgment of the Supreme Court was unprejudiced, uninfluenced and determined completely on merit, for which it was applauded in Nigeria and across the world.
“Also, the conduct of our December, 2017, elective national convention in a transparent, free and fair manner and where nobody was ‘kingmaker,’ denotes the democratic credential of the repositioned PDP to deliver credible primaries that would yield a presidential candidate Nigerians desire”.
The PDP said there is an extensive dissimilarity between it and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The party said while it remains nationally populist and development-driven, “the APC by orientation and composure is arrogant, inept and anti-people, hence the nationwide detestation against it”.
The opposition party said it’s not like the APC, where a very few individuals from within a circle control the instrument of power and governance.
It claimed to be an egalitarian platform where Nigerians are free to express themselves, politically engage and freely aspire to any office without regard to divisive considerations.
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.
-
Business4 days ago
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
-
News4 days ago
Emulate Otti, Obey Court Order Stopping Pension To Ex-Govs, SERAP, OBJ Tell Tinubu, Govs
-
Niger Delta4 days ago
Group Commences Mangrove Restoration Initiative In Cross River Communities
-
Sports2 days ago
Tornadoes Fight-Back To Stun Shooting Stars
-
Editorial4 days ago
Delta Killings: Need For Caution
-
Rivers4 days ago
Show Example In Leadership, Cleric Urges Nigerian Leaders
-
Niger Delta2 days ago
Diri Appoints New SSG, CoS, Retains CPS
-
Opinion2 days ago
Restoring Service Commission As Professional Gatekeeper