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Mantu Never Rigged Elections For US -PDP …Alleges Plots To Clampdown On Oppositions, Others …As Secondus Gives Lai Mohammed 48Hour-Ultimatum Over Looters’ List

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the advice by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to learn from former Senate President Senator Ibrahim Mantu’s claims on how he rigged elections for the party.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement yesterday, said Senator Mantu’s reported claims was personal to him and has nothing to do with the PDP, as the party never directed any of its members to rig election on its behalf, at any point since its formation in 1998.
“Senator Mantu spoke about his personal activities and tendencies in the elections where he participated. The PDP has never directed or had any pact with him to rig election on its behalf. Never!
“Individuals run their elections on the platform of political parties once they emerge as candidates. In the PDP, candidates are issued with the party’s Code of Conduct containing the basic rules of electioneering engagements.
“There is nowhere in this rules of engagement where candidates or party members are directed to rig elections on behalf of the party. If any member’s conduct transgressed these basic rules of engagement, that individual did not act on behalf of the PDP, and as such the party cannot be vicariously held responsible.
“It will therefore be misplaced for anybody, including the APC, to surmise that Senator Mantu, in the said confession of rigging, acted on behalf of the PDP.
“After all, in 2007, Senator Mantu lost his own senatorial election. What, then, happened to his rigging machinery, if he could not deliver himself,” the party said.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday drew attention to what it said were clandestine plots by certain agents of the Federal Government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to clamp down on key members of the opposition parties ahead of the 2019 general elections.
It claimed that part of the “heinous plot” was also to arrest members of the civil society, opinion leaders, the media and professional groups who refused to buy into the fabrications, lies, deceptions and propaganda of the APC and the Federal Government.
National Publicity Secretary, in Abuja, said the PDP was reliably informed that the plot against opposition will be hinged on trump up charges of corruption, allegations of plotting to disrupt the processes leading to the 2019 general elections as well as the alleged politicization of security issues in the country.
The opposition party stated: “The first leg of this scheme is to commence a vicious intimidation and harassment of PDP members who have refused to succumb to pressure to join the APC in their undemocratic quest to create room for a one-party state in Nigeria.
“This will be followed by arrests, detention as well as the jailing of members of the opposition and others perceived to be opposed to the interests of the APC ahead of the elections.
“The PDP, which grew our democracy to become sustainable and successfully handed power to the opposition after the 2015 general election, has a responsibility to ensure that democracy and the application of its tenets flourish without let in our country.
“The PDP and the majority of Nigerians, rallying under our repositioned platform, will never be intimidated or cowed by the principles of democracy.
“All we are saying is that the APC and its Federal Government must provide good governance and live up to its campaign promises of eradicating corruption, vanquishing insurgency and bringing our currency to the value of one naira to one US dollar, among others.
“We want the APC and the Federal Government to know that this country belongs to all of us and that this plot against the people will be firmly resisted not only by the members of our party but also by the generality of Nigerians and the international community at large.”
However, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has given the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, 48 hours to withdraw his statement listing him among past looters or face litigation.
According to the spokesperson for the PDP chairman, Mr. Ike Abonyi, who said this in a statement, last Saturday, Secondus made the demand in a letter to the minister by his lawyer, Emeka Etiaba (SAN).
The minister had last Friday, alleged that the party chairman collected N200million from the Office of the National Security Adviser in 2015.
But in the letter with reference number EESE&C/1/31/03/18 dated March 31, 2018, and addressed to the minister, the party chairman also demanded a retraction, apology and payment of N1.5billion as damages.
The lawyer alleged that the said publication “has damaged the image of Secondus as he has been humiliated, castigated and vilified by many as a result of the falsehood published by the minister.”
The letter noted that if Mohammed failed to meet the demands within 48 hours, “we shall within 72 hours from today, proceed to a court of competent jurisdiction to ventilate our client’s right under the law and shall further seek the protection of the court against you.”
Similarly, the PDP has alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari had no moral rectitude to fight corruption in the country, describing him as a direct beneficiary of what it called “corruption freebies” deployed by his party leaders to fund his 2015 presidential campaign.
The party noted that the President, who declared that he had no resources to run a presidential campaign in 2015, ought to have known, particularly as a leader, that the billions of naira deployed in his campaigns were proceeds of alleged corrupt activities of known All Progressives Congress (APC) governors and leaders.
The party therefore challenged Buhari to make open the sources of funds available to his campaign in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 races, as well as the names of the donors.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, last Saturday, said Buhari and his party leaders had “huge confessions” to make on how they allegedly raked in stolen state resources to prosecute the 2015 elections.
He said, “If the Federal Government and the APC are serious about fighting corruption and not just out to persecute PDP members, they should have begun with the probe into the source of the billions of naira used for President Buhari’s 2015 presidential campaigns, particularly in the face of allegations that the fund was looted from treasuries of various APC states.
“Can President Buhari, in all honesty, claim ignorance of reports in the open media that a South-South governor (allegedly) looted several billions from his state accounts and diverted the sums into Buhari’s 2015 campaigns?
“We challenge President Buhari to tell Nigerians what he has done regarding the leaked memo showing N9trillion ($25billion) corrupt oil contracts at the NNPC as well as the alleged stealing of N1.1trillion worth of crude oil, all in a sector under his direct purview as minister of petroleum.
“The Presidency should tell Nigerians what has been done to recover the stolen N18billion Internally Displaced Persons intervention fund and the N10billion National Health Insurance Scheme fund alleged to have been stolen from the Treasury Single Account by APC officials and Presidency cabal.”
In a statement, the party listed cases of alleged looting by officials of the federal government in the Buhari administration but which the PDP said have been swept under the carpet.
Dismissing the list released by Mohammed as hollow and laughable, the PDP challenged the minister to name any of its members that has been convicted for treasury looting.
The party said the list is an extension of Federal Government’s media trial of its members and challenged it to come up with names of its members against whom the federal government had secured convictions.
It added: “The list put forward by the Federal Government as purported looters amounts to a cheap blackmail as none of those listed have been indicted or convicted by any court of competent jurisdiction or any panel of enquiry in our country.
“The list issued by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, only goes to show that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Presidency have no prove of corruption against the PDP.”
The party said in its frenzy and desperation, the Federal Government even included names of individuals who are not standing trial or under investigation for any act of corruption, as well as those who are not even PDP members.
“The Buhari-led Federal Government has manifested its frenzy by going after matters that are in court and in which none of the persons have been convicted, thus betraying their wickedness and desperation to mislead the public, the court and divert attention from the heavy looting involving their members.
“We are not in doubt that the individuals he has mentioned will take their legitimate stride and pursue appropriate action in the court.
“However, attacks on individuals, who are members of our party, do not in any way detract from the fact that the PDP, as a political platform, is not a party of corruption.
“It is unfortunate that the APC and its government under whose watch horrendous sleazes are happening on a daily basis and a government that has failed to fulfill the littlest of its campaign promises, can spend a wholesome three years searching for flimsy allegations to discredit our party and its members.”
In a related development, the Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum, Ayodele Fayose, faulted the “looters’ list” released by the Federal Government which included the name of Secondus.
Fayose, who is the Ekiti State governor, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, wondered why the list did not include the names of those who had been earlier indicted by the Federal Government.
The statement said, “Surprisingly, while the name of the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus (with N200million) appeared on Lai Mohammed’s clownish “looters’ list”, that of Diezani Alison-Madueke, who they claimed to have traced N47.2billion and $487.5million to, was missing.
“Is it that the Federal Government lied against Diezani ab initio, or she has also been baptised into the All Progressives Congress comity of saint looters?”
In its reaction, the Rivers State Government said it will not publish the list of those indicted by a panel of inquiry it set up to probe the sale of assets belonging to the state because a White Paper on the matter was already in the public domain.
The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Barrister Emma Okah, said that the immediate past governor, Chibuike Amaechi, had gone to court to challenge the constitution of the judicial panel of inquiry.
Okah said, “If the White Paper has done the job and it is in the public domain, what is new again about the list?”
A former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, also alleged that there was a secret plan by the Federal Government to convict him for corruption.
Metuh, who is on trial before a Federal High Court in Abuja for alleged corruption, was named by Mohammed to be among six members of the PDP who allegedly looted the treasury in 2015.
Metuh, in a statement titled ‘My reply to the media trial’, last Saturday, said, “By this publication, the Federal Government has breached our constitution by seeking to burden me with two criminal trials on the same charge, one before Justice Okon Abang and the other before the media.
“The major crux of the prosecutions argument is that I ought to have known that the money was part of an alleged and yet-to-be proven unlawful activity of Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd), a former NSA to President Jonathan.
“In view of the weakness of the case against me, the APC-led Federal Government resorted to all kinds of dirty tactics to dehumanise and intimidate me.
“I have been reliably informed that the Federal Government has ordered a conviction at all cost to ensure that the PDP is tainted before the elections. The government‘s determination to achieve this objective is clearly highlighted by the refusal to allow me to attend to my deteriorating health notwithstanding several expert medical opinions on the matter.”
Metuh said that, by going to the media to name him a looter and without cross-checking the definition and dictionary meaning of the word, the Federal Government has not only given “a body language but has issued a direct intimidation and threat to the judiciary to get a compulsory conviction.”
With this, he said there was no way the Federal Government would allow justice to be done in his case.

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Group Doles out N13m To Market Women In Isiama 

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The peaceful Town of Isiama in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State was at the weekend agog with activities following the donation of over N13million to market women by Engr. Justus Ngerebara in partnership with Fast Track Development Initiatives, a non-governmental organization, as part of its first phase empowerment programme.
According to Justus Ngerebara, who is also the Executive Director of the organization, the women, numbering 108, will receive various sums based on their business proposal.
He stated that the organization will carry out an annual review of the performances of the beneficiaries, with a view to rewarding those who put the money into good use.
According to him, the initiative was a collaborative effort between himself and his wife, Dr. Unyime Ngerebara, in partnership with Fast Track Development Initiative (FDI), an organization committed to youth capacity building and community development.
He said the family believe deeply in the transformative power of women’s empowerment as a catalyst for economic growth, especially in rural communities.
“As the saying goes, when you empower a woman, you empower a community. This truth resonate strongly with us, knowing that empowered women uplift households and inspire generational change”, he stated.
Ngerebara described the programme as the beginning of more things to come and urged the beneficiaries to view the gesture “as a reflection of our deep love for the community and our commitment to easing the burdens of economic hardship.
“We encourage you to invest wisely, channel these resources into your business not frivolities.
“We will continue to follow up with each participant to monitor progress and Offer guidance.
“It is our goal to see thriving business, creative solutions to households hunger and a ripple effect of prosperity through Isiama.
“We also call on the men to stand beside their spouses, offering support and encouragement to ensure these resources are maximized for growth”, he said.
In an interview, Ngerebara said the second phase of the empowerment programme will start very soon, stressing that since inception the organization has done so much for the community.
He listed some of the programmes carried out by the group in the community to include the installation of solar powered lights, and solar powered water.
While declaring the event open, a former coymmissioner for Works in Rivers State, Engr. Sampson Ngerebara, described the event as the first of its kind in the community.
Engr. Ngerebara said the programme will go a long way to improve the conditions of not only the beneficiaries, but also the entire Isiama Community.
He also charged them against wasting the resources on frivolities, adding that their success will attract more of such empowerment programme to Isiama community
Giving a brief talk on women empowerment, a lecturer at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Dr. Awajimogobo Felix MacLean, warned the beneficiaries to justify the effort of the donor by avoiding wastages.
Dr. MacLean also urged them to be consistent in their line of business as well as avoid unnecessary competition.
She also stressed the need for them to network among themselves, while working out ways of helping the community to develop.
Guest of Honour at the occasion, Professor Uriah Oboada Alafonye, said Engr Justus Ngerebara, the initiator of the programme, has set a standard for present and future generations of leaders both in the community and the rest of Andoni to follow.
Prof Alafonye who is of the department of Arts Education, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, also appealed to the beneficiaries to seize the opportunity provided by the programme to reduce poverty in the community.
Speaking, one of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Hebron Mercy Fyneface, a crayfish seller and an interior designer, said it was the first time she was receiving such gesture from any organization or government.
She thanked Engr Justus Ngerebara for remembering the women of Isiama and urged others to emulate him.
By: John Bibor
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Fubara’s Return Excites NCSU … As Hope Rises For Civil Servants 

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The umbrella body of civil servants in Rivers State, the Nigeria Civil Service Union(NCSU) has expressed delight over the lifting of emergency rule in the State and the return to office of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Prof Ngozi Nma Odu and members of the State House of Assembly, saying, the development portends good omen for workers, the people and the State.
The Rivers State Chairman of NCSU, Comrade Chukwuka Richman Osumah, who gave the indication in an interview in Port Harcourt, said the return of the Governor to office portends good omen and better days for civil servants in particular, stressing that the union heartily welcomes the Governor back to office, to resume his good works in the State, after six months of the emergency rule, as well as his deputy and members of the House of Assembly.
He noted that civil servants in the State are not only elated over the development but are also full of hope that the Governor would start from where he stopped in attending to their welfare needs.
He contended that the political crisis that recently engulfed the State and the six-month emergency rule had for over one year pulled the State backwards, but expressed delight that a permanent solution has been found to stem further political upheavals in the State, and thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for making this possible; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and leader of the State, Chief Nyesom Wike; Governor Fubara; Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Martin Amaewhule; members of the House; and other stakeholders for agreeing to amicably resolve all contending issues.
The labour leader said this is the right time for all political gladiators in the State to bury the hatchet, work together and embrace peace and genuine reconciliation in the overall interest of the State.
He described as too hasty the resolution of the House, mandating the Governor to present a supplementary budget to it, and pleaded with members of the House to be calm, to tread with caution, and harmoniously work with the Governor.
He said the return of democratic governance in the State would fast-track progress and development in the State, and enjoined the people of the State, particularly civil servants to continue to give their support and cooperation to the Fubara administration.
Osumah expressed optimism that Governor Fubara would give prompt attention to challenges facing civil servants in the State, being a former civil servant himself, stressing that the workers truly have hope, now that the Governor has returned to office, and knowing the kind of Governor he is.
According to him, he is going to look into the controversial and contentious contributory pension scheme; rehabilitation of the State Secretariat Complex; recruitment into the state civil service; extension of service and retirement years for civil servants; provision of vehicles to industrial unions; as well as provision of befitting staff quarters for civil servants; among others.
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NDDC Organizes ADR Capacity Building for Staff

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The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has organized a one-day sensitization program for its personnel on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) approaches to promote workplace compliance on transparency and due process.
The workshop, themed “Promoting Transparency and Due Process in the Workplace using ADR Approaches in Building a Culture of Accountability and Integrity,” aimed to equip staff with the skills to resolve disputes effectively.
Declaring the event open on thursday in port Harcourt,The NDDC Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, emphasized the importance of using ADR mechanisms to resolve conflicts in the workplace.
Dr. Ogbuku  represented by his chief of staff,Rev Omeya Oworibo,noted that ADR approaches can encourage a culture of honesty, fairness, transparency, trust, and reduce conflicts among staff, ultimately promoting efficiency and productivity.
He averred that those disputes and quarrels if not proper resolved can derail the vision and objectives of the commission to the people, noting that the commission must as a team and unity as service provider in order to render a profitable service delivery to the people.
 “ADR approach will encourage culture of honesty,fairness, transparency ,trust  and reduce back bitting and the workforce, noting that such tendency would in turns promote efficiency and increase results in workplace.
 when integrity and honesty becomes the operandi of an organisation and employees begins to trust that their matters will be handled with fairness it will breed team work and increase in productivity.”he stated
He commended the department of DCR for organising the workshop and urged the participants to make good use of the opportunity and imbibe the culture of tolerance, integrity and teamwork in workplace.
Also speaking,the NDDC acting director of DCR ,Mr Godwin Ayewumi Ogedegbe noted that the theme of the captures the core of what the commission seeks to achieve a workplace where every action is expected to be guided by openness, fairness, and a steadfastness commitment to due process, where conflicts are not merely resolved, but prevented through structured,principled processes , and where accountability and integrity are not aspirational ideals but every day practice.
In his  keynote presentation on the theme “workplace Ethics and alternative Dispute Resolution Correlation,
Prof. Sylvester Odion Akhaine of the Department of Political Science, University of Lagos, delivered a keynote presentation on “Workplace Ethics and Alternative Dispute Resolution Correlation.” He stressed the importance of due process, transparency, integrity, and accountability in the workplace, noting that these values are essential for productivity and organizational goals.
The workshop aimed to promote a culture of accountability and integrity in the NDDC workplace. By equipping staff with ADR skills and promoting transparency and due process, the commission can build a more efficient and productive work environment.
By: Akujobi Amadi
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