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Stop Chasing Shadows, New PDP Tells Tukur …As Kaduna Gets State Chapter
The Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led national executive of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has advised embattled old PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to leave bona fide members of the party alone and stop chasing shadows.
The party in a statement issued yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze berated Tukur for allegedly spreading lies about chieftains of the party.
The statement listed those being blackmailed to include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.
Eze urged Tukur to stop making inflammatory statements about respected members of the party, and strive to pave way for the return of peace in the party.
In the statement, the party said, “we have read some of the utterances of the Bamanga Tukur-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and found most of them to be exasperating, disgusting, unacceptable and very unfortunate.
According to the statement, “to the Tukur group, Governor Amaechi is a traitor for standing firm on his rights. We consider some of these statements unbecoming of a leader of Tukur’s stature.
“By these acts, Tukur has demonstrated that he is intolerant, undemocratic and incapable of leading a democratic party like PDP. We urge him and members of his cabinet to stop making inflammatory statements capable of derailing the efforts of the Olusegun Obasanjo-led Elders Committee of the party to restore normalcy and unity amongst PDP members.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo was last Monday put under intense political pressure as numerous pioneer members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his home state of Kaduna declared for the splinter group led by Abubakar Kawu Baraje.
They also declared Sambo incompetent, adding that he lacked the wherewithal to lead the state.
Before Monday’s formal declaration of a parallel PDP, Mr. Sambo had been engaged in a series of power tussles with Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, a former governor of Kaduna State and a current Senator.
The formation of a Kaduna State chapter of the new PDP was announced by the faction’s Chairman, Audi Yaro Makama, who had also chaired the state party from 2001 to 2007, and the Secretary, Gideon Morik, who had served in the Kaduna State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007.
The new PDP, in a statement said that Morik was also a former local government chairman in the state.
According to the new party, “in the last few weeks, a political tsunami was unleashed on the nation with the emergence of a new leadership to pilot the affairs of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The decision of the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and seven governors elected on the platform of the party, is not only worthy of commendation but worthy of emulation,” the statement noted.
It said, “Specifically, Governors Babangida Aliyu, Niger, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Kano; and Sule Lamido, Jigawa; including Aliyu Magatakarda Wammako, Sokoto; as well as Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Rivers; Murtala Nyako, Adamawa; and Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, Kwara, took the necessary step of saving the PDP from the hands of nihilists.
“The revolutionary decision to sack the erstwhile leadership under Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and replace it with the current one led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje needs to be replicated in all state chapters of the party, especially Kaduna State where the support base of the party has been shrinking since 2007 when Namadi Sambo became governor and decided to rubbish the party and its supporters to no end.
“The PDP in Kaduna State, therefore, proudly and wholeheartedly identifies with the new leadership of the party, under Alhaji Kawu Baraje and follows in the footsteps of its sister chapters of Adamawa, Jigawa and Taraba States in setting up new leadership to give our party a new lease of life.
“We are also reassuring our teeming supporters that they truly own the party, and not those with little or no inkling about PDP’s founding ideals, who do not have the passion for the party’s interest and growth.”
Declaring Sambo incompetent, the new PDP said, “fundamentally, this decision has been taken after deep reflections on happenings in Kaduna State since the elevation of Architect Namadi Sambo as Vice President.
It is instructive that since his elevation, the fortunes and prestige of the party in the state have been declining rather than improving, because he has been incapable of rallying the people under its umbrella.
Although this is hardly surprising since he lacks the political wherewithal and the requisite structure to preside over the politics of the state, but it was expected that he would come to terms with his inadequacies and enlist the support of established political actors.
This expectation has been a forlorn hope because the Vice President has surrounded himself with political paperweights. These hangers-on drive Sambo’s vehicle of political exclusionism by hunting for enemies even where they don’t exist.
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Our Legacy’ll Leave Lasting Impression On Rivers People -Fubara
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has assured that his administration will collaborate and continue to consult widely in delivering a liberated State experiencing enduring peace.
Fubara said, in doing so, he would not operate as a dictator but as a member of a team that has the best interest of the State at heart and determined to leave a lasting legacy that can be celebrated.
The governor spoke during the formal presentation of Certificate of Recognition and Staff of Office to the Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, King Ateke Michael Tom, as first class tradition ruler, at Government House in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Fubara stated that, during the Sixth State Executive Council meeting, N80.8billion was approved with 50 percent contract value paid already as the Government awarded the construction of the Elele-Egbeda-Omoku Road.
He said the project will be funded from the savings from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to underscore his administration’s prudence without also borrowing to complete the project.
“We are at a crossroad in our State where we all need to stand for what is right. It happens once in a life time. So, for now, be one of those people that will be in the course to liberate and free our dear State.
“And I know strongly that having the support of a peace-loving Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, having the support of the wonderful Council of Chiefs, having the support of the great people of Rivers State, we will bring peace in our State. We will do those things that are right to develop our State.
“We will continue to consult. We will not act as dictators. We will act as people who know that one day, we will leave, and when we leave, the way we have acted will speak for us. We will not force people to talk good about us. Our legacy will be a signature for how we led”, the governor said.
Fubara explained that he acted within the ambit of the law to upgrade the traditional stool upon which King Ateke Tom sits in recognition of his efforts in promoting peace in Okrika, and indeed, the State, and urged him to continue to do justice to everyone.
In his speech, Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Hon Charles Amadi, congratulated King Ateke Tom for being formally presented with the Certificate of Recognition and Staff of Office as first class traditional ruler.
Also speaking, former Transport Minister, Chief Abiye Sekibo, thanked the governor for fulfilling his promise of upgrading the traditional stool of Okochiri Kingdom, and pledged the support of Kirike Se people to his administration.
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We’re Determined To Leave Legacy Of Quality Education -Fubara
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has promised to give the best attention to the education sector so that standard and quality learning will never be compromised in the State.
The governor emphasised that in achieving such legacy, schools in the State will be driven with a curriculum that will equip school-aged children to become competitive, innovative and self-reliant.
Governor Fubara made the assertion while inaugurating the Governing Council of Rivers State University at Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
He said: “There is a lot of noise everywhere: people asking what we are doing; that we are not focused, and that we don’t have direction.
”But I want to tell the world that we are focused and aware that we cannot grow if our energies are not channeled to education. Not just education, but purposeful education.
”Education that is creative. Education that gives you independence. We have left the era in the world when you speak too much grammar. We are in such times when it is what you can do with your hands.
”Our purpose for education is that we should bring back our academic programmes to where, at the end of your studies, you don’t need a job but you create jobs. When one creates a job, you automatically employ others. That is what I want this council to see as their task.”
Governor Fubara noted the non-existence of public secondary schools for the male child in the Diobu axis of Port Harcourt.
He said such negligence leaves children in that area who have completed primary education, and whose parents cannot afford sending them to far away secondary schools, to roam the streets, and therefore becoming willing tools for criminality.
Governor Fubara assured that such fundamental problem will be addressed by his administration as a measure to curb the negative impression associated with Diobu axis of Port Harcourt.
The governor said he trusts in the capacity of the members of the Governing Council of Rivers State University to bring about positive change in the institution while also contributing their quota to improving the general education standard in the State.
”I charge you, not just in terms of administering the affairs of the university, but let us add something different from the normal things that we already have to see new things.”
In her response, on behalf of the other members, the Pro-Chancellor of the Governing Council of Rivers State University, Justice Mary Odili (rtd), thanked the governor for finding them worthy to serve in such capacity.
Justice Odili assured they will work assiduously as a team to solve the problems that agitate the mind of the governor and ensure their contributions form part of the legacy that will be bequeathed by his administration.
The members included Justice Mary Odili (rtd) as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council with Barrister Mela Oforibika and Chukwuma Chinwo, Esq.
Others were Adata Bio-Briggs, Esq., Dr. Jonathan Nimi Hart, Ngo Martins-Yellowe, Dr. Nancy Nwankwo, Dr. Igoni William-Park, and Mr. Ogbugbu Barisua.
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Fubara, Others Eulogise Rivers First Lady’s Mother
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, his Deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, and key stakeholders of the State on Wednesday paid glowing tributes at the Service of Songs held in honour of late Mrs Adeline Jaja, mother of the wife of the Governor, Lady Valerie Fubara, at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Mile 1, Diobu, Port Harcourt.
Speaking at the event, Governor Fubara described his late mother-in-law as a great and visionary woman who lived on truth and conviction in what she believes.
“Mama was a great woman. She wasn’t a materialistic person. When she believes in you, she’ll be all out for you. She stood for me. I feel pained that, like my own mother, she left at this moment.
”Mama believed so much in God, and the wonders of God. I thank everyone, particularly the Church. On behalf of the bereaved family, we will support the Church to immortalise her name,” the Governor said.
In his homily, Vicar of the Church, Ven. A. A. Ijon-Ama, who spoke on the gains of death, said physical departure from earth was not an ultimate end but an opening for higher and permanent gain and perfection.
He pointed out that when a man has a good relationship with God, he stands to gain more in death.
Ven. Ijon-Ama described late Mrs. Adeline Jaja as a devout Christian, who exuded deep sense of hospitality, and endowed with accommodating spirit, noting that she will be greatly missed by all.
The Vicar, who prayed for the repose of the soul of Mrs Adeline Jaja, also solicited for Divine fortitude for the family to bear the great loss, and called for the immortalisation of the deceased to keep her good legacies alive.
Some family members, who spoke at the Service of Songs, extolled the virtues of the deceased, describing her as “a great community leader, counsellor, peace maker, and caring mother, who provided for the needy, and participated actively in Church activities.
Highlights of the event were special prayers for the bereaved family, conducted by the Anglican Bishop of Evo Diocese, Rt. Rev. Innocent Ordu; remarks by key family members, choir ministration, among others.
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