Politics
Booby-Traps On The Roads To 2011
As the countdown to the 2011 general elections in Nigeria begins, political parties are yet to announce plans for ward congresses which many believe, would provide the platform for the election of candidates that will fly the party flags come next year’s general polls.
Investigations conducted by The Tide indicate that majority of the political parties are waiting for directives from their national offices before swinging into action, but the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears to be pre-occupied with sensitisation of party members, wooing others into its fold and reshuffling its political cards for future political gains.
While awareness of party members on ward congresses is at its lowest ebb, feelers indicate that many party faithfuls may be caught up when the lid for the congresses is removed by INEC.
Rivers State Chairman of National Movement of Progressives, Hon Ronarth Dappa told The Tide that there was no way the party would organise ward congress without official directive from its national office, noting that the moment the national body of the party came out with a timetable, the party would go ahead with the congress.
Since the party is relatively new, he said it had commenced grassroots mobilisation to woo members into the party. Dappa noted that the ward congress would be a major launching pad for his party.
Similarly, Hon Christian Finebone of the National Majority Democratic Party (NMDP), said it was too early to organise ward congresses.
The Rivers State Secretary of NMDP declared that machineries needed to be put in place before holding the exercise, assuring that before the year runs out, it would conduct its ward congress elections.
The Tide learnt that the posture of most of the political parties may not be in connection with the plans of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make public its election time table in March.
INEC chairman, Prof Maurice Iwu, said in Abuja at an interactive session with newsmen that the commission would release the timetable for the 2011 general election in March, thsis year.
Iwu justified the measure on the need for political parties and aspirants to have enough time to plan their activities.
On what would happen to the timetable if the National Assembly amended the constitution especially, the sections that deal with election timetable, Iwu said INEC was ready to make necessary changes to take care of such developments.
On speculations that 2011 general election would be shifted to November, the INEC boss said that this would only be possible if the constitution and other relevant laws were amended before then.
However, since the inception the of the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration in Rivers State, party politics may have been kept in a cooler in order not to distract the administration’s lauded development agenda in the state.
Two years into his administration, and with enviable record of remarkable service delivery of good governance, the PDP government of the state appears to be set to swing into action of party politics.
In line with this, the chairman of PDP in Obio/Akpor Local Government area, Chukwuemeka Aaron said the party has begun grassroot sensitisation to shape party members and other faithfuls into action for election.
Aaron, in a telephone chat with The Tide said the success of the sensitisation programme of the party would be a litmus test for the PDP to re-enact its success story in the LGs and the State elections. He advised party men and women including the youths in respective areas to close rank and work with a common purpose to take PDP to the next level of democratic success.
Aaron’s counterpart in Eleme Local Government area, Hon Abel Onungwe, agreed that PDP had swung into action on the sensitisation of party members and electorate in the area, preparatory to the congresses and the general elections in 2011.
A PDP chieftain in Gokana LGA, Hon Baiate Giadom said waiting was the name of the political game for now. “We are patiently waiting on the directive of our party on the congresses,” he said, adding that as soon as the directive was given from the national body, all other things would be put into shape for action.
Giadom, a former councillor, said there was no negative implication on the waiting game, arguing that each political party, had internal mechanism in organising party activities.
He, however, advised Rivers people to remain supportive of Amaechi administration in the efforts to re-position the state and deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
Perhaps, it is the waiting game that has influenced the docile activities of the parties at their respective secretariats, and this The Tide learnt may have far-reaching implications on the political development of the parties ahead of the 2011 general elections.
A chieftain of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Igoniwari Haliday said the hope of HDP to relaunch itself into political reckoning was being kept alive with its grassroots moblisation.
Halliday said HDP was recording successes in its mobilisation drive, but declined comments on the speculation that a governorship aspirant of HDP was warming up to wrest power from Governor Amaechi. Sources described the HDP female governorship hopeful as an Amazon that has all it takes to make a statement in the political history of the state.
Philip-Wuwu Okparaji & Enoch Epelle
The Segun Oni Campaign Organisation(SOCO) has described the alleged boast by the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, that he has the judiciary in his pocket to legitimise the election of governor-elect, Biodun Oyebanji, as a product of hallucination.
The organisation said that it is very disgusting and debasing for a failed governor who during his tenure destroyed the legacies that used to make the state one of the enviable entities to now weave the nest to cage the judiciary in order to sustain his hold on Ekiti State resources.
In a statement made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, on Monday by the Director of Media and Publicity of the organisation, Mr Jackson Adebayo, the action of the governor was described as primitive, barbaric and callous.
The statement further read that the impunity with which the All Progressives Congress (APC) rules Nigeria and carries out the activities of their party is too glaring to be ignored by Nigerians hence, the national calamity bedevilling the country today.
Adebayo stressed that Governor Fayemi should explain to the whole world why his party presented candidates with forged results for election and how his party’s governorship primary was manipulated to bring out Biodun Oyebanji who was nominated by an illegal authority elected through front loading of election results.
The group maintained that Fayemi and his party deliberately perpetrated all these political heresies, basking on their culture of manipulating the judiciary as the boasting and antecedents suggest.
According to SOCO, the emergence of Governor Fayemi both in 2010 and 2018 also took the same route, hence, his belief in shortcut to the Ekiti Government House, forgetting that some people in the judiciary can still protect their integrity.
“Fayemi who said that those challenging the election of Oyebanji in court and tribunal are mere entertainers, that they don’t know that he has the judiciary in his pocket, should avail Nigerians how many Judges he has bought for the intended coded outcome of the court and the tribunal.
“We want to remind the governor that the ground which is before the tribunal goes beyond an ordinary technicality and legal masquerading. There are constitutional issues which had been decided at all levels of court in Nigeria, so any clandestine movement becomes suspicion”, the statement read.
The organisation added that leaders, sons and daughters of Ekiti and the leadership of the Nigerian judiciary should beam their searchlight on Ekiti State matters so as to save the last hope of the masses who voted but were cornered by the APC government.’’
The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over recent corruption-related accusations has escalated as National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu and Deputy National Chairman (North), Umar Damagum have been given a 48-hour ultimatum to resign at the risk of legal action.
The threat followed a resolution by the Forum of PDP Candidates and Aspirants, which passed a vote of no confidence on the three officers.
They have also petitioned the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party on the unanimous demand of candidates for the resignation of the above-mentioned officers.
The candidates who gathered and held their brainstorming session in Abuja, also alleged that the leadership of the party extorted several aspirants during the congresses, primaries and national convention of the party and swapped the names of candidates with the names of persons who did not win.
They pointed out that these “underhand actions of the leadership of the party are largely responsible for the nullification by the courts of the governorship primary in Zamfara State and all primaries held in Ogun State”, while noting that many more are still pending in court.
Chris Ogbu, who presided over the session as the Forum Coordinator and House of Assembly Candidate, also read the communiqué. He was flanked by Dauda Yusuf, the Forum’s Secretary and former governorship aspirant as well as several other members.
They demanded that Ayu, Anyanwu and Damagum step down immediately or be sacked by the party within 48 hours, at the expiration of which a legal action would be instituted to force them out of office, beginning from today.
The candidates/aspirants said that the alleged sharing of money paid for nomination forms by Ayu instead of utilising it for the prosecution of the historic 2023 election was very provocative and impacting negatively on the image of the party.
“Voters now see them as a come and chop or share the money party and that removing Ayu and his gang of party treasury looters will go a long way in showing that PDP is now a party that is intolerant of corruption,” the resolution reads.
The Federal Government has disowned the list of National Honours nominees that has been in circulation in the last four days.
The list contained the names of many public servants, retirees and even some who have died.
A statement signed by the Director of Press in the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and InterGovernmental Affairs, Julie Jacobs, the Federal Government said that the list did not emanate from its officials and that it would publish the authentic list at the appropriate time.
It said, “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs has been drawn to a purported list of nominees for National Honours being circulated by some online media organisations.
“While it is true that President Muhammadu Buhari, will be conferring National Honours on deserving Nigerians and friends of Nigeria on 11th October, 2022, the authentic list of nominees is yet to be released to the public. The Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs will publish the list at the appropriate time and medium.
“Members of the public are hereby enjoined to discountenance the list in circulation as it is an attempt by overzealous reporters whose aim is to break news even when such news is fake.”
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