The recently concluded congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Southwest has presented another opportunity for its leadership to get to the drawing board and work out new ways of managing some challenges confronting it. The elections to the regional positions may have come and gone, with winners having emerged. But to some party leaders, an internal election where a faction out of two won all seats by narrow margins coupled with the implication of winners-take-all, has thrown up new challenges must be well managed. Before the congress, Southwest PDP was divided. Oyo State Governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde led a…
Author: Ifeanyi Nwagboso
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the presidency’s reaction to the terrorism allegations against Dr Isa Pantami, the minister of Communication and Digital Economy, showed President Muhammadu Buhari-led government patronises acts of terrorism. There have been calls on the president to sack Pantami following a flurry of revelations in which he made pro-terrorist comments in the past. Despite the calls by Nigerians for the removal of Pantami as communication minister, the presidency on Thursday, April 22, 2021, threw its weight behind the embattled minister in a statement. According to the statement by Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the…
Former Governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Kalu, has said that he has no ambition to become Nigeria’s President. Kalu, however, said he will not reject the offer if he was given, adding that he is capable mentally and otherwise to lead the country. Uzor Kalu also insisted that it is the turn of a Southeasterner of Igbo extraction to become President if Nigerians want to be fair. The former Abia Governor spoke during an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, adding that he does not believe that prophecies will take him to Aso Rock. He waved aside prophecies from…
There are indicators that the real test for Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s leadership acumen would unfold in two years’ time. By 2023, the Enugu State governor would be rounding off his second term in office as the state chief executive. Recent events in the state showed that Ugwuanyi’s succession plan would be a subject of great contestation between his Enugu North Senatorial District kinsmen and the people of Enugu East Senatorial District. The informal power rotation arrangement among the three Senatorial districts has run a full circle, with the incumbent taking the slot of Enugu North or Nsukka zone for the…
Ahmed Bakare, a public commentator in Zamfara State has alleged that the APC Governor’s Forum has a hidden agenda, considering their constant sympathy visit to the state. In an exclusive interview with the media in Gusau, Bakare explained that there have been many occurrences in some APC controlled states but the APC Governors Forum has not cared to visit those states. “It is not surprising that since 1999 that Nigeria regained democracy from the military, Zamfara State belonged entirely APC. The PDP did not form a government there except through the Supreme court intervention in 2019″. Bakare said the ”APC…
A member of the Anambra House of Assembly, Hon Nonso Okafor says it is untrue that Governor Willie Obiano endorsed an aspirant for the party’s ticket in the November governorship election. Okafor, a chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) stated this yesterday, during an interactive session with journalists at the Godwin Ezeemo Press Centre, Awka. The lawmaker was reacting to insinuations that the governor has endorsed the former Central Bank Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo for the party’s ticket. Okafor said, “I don’t understand what people mean by body language. People should stop dropping the name of the governor…
The Pan Nigeria Presidency of Igbo Extraction Coalition (PANPIEC) has advocated for all political parties to zone their 2023 Presidential seat ticket to the southeastern part of the country. The coalition said shifting power to the east would engender confidence, a sense of belonging, as well as erase the agitations in the southeast. The socio-political organization called on all stakeholders to work towards the realisation of Nigeria Presidency of Igbo extraction. PANPIEC made its position known in a statement jointly signed by its Director of Planning and Strategy, Pat Anyanwu and Assistant Director, Contact and Mobilization, Prudence Uchebuakor and made…
The Noble Youths Mass Support Association (NYMSA) has endorsed former presidential aide, Doyin Okupe, for the 2023 presidency. The Coordinator, Godwin Onmonya, told NAN that the group believes in hope in the ex-National Publicity Secretary of the National Republican Convention (NRC). Okupe worked with former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan. Onmonya described Okupe as a reliable and credible choice for the office of the president. NYMSA said Okupe will create an enabling environment for businesses, restore respect for the rule of law and provide job opportunities. “He is a thoroughbred grassroots politician, who understands Nigeria, Nigerians’ challenges and can…
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is reported to have registered about 2.5 million members during its just concluded registration and revalidation exercise in Lagos. The exercise, which started in February ended on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Dr Muhammad Bashiru Ruwangodiya, Chairman of the APC Lagos Registration Supervisory Committee, said about 2.5 million registered during the exercise across the 20 local governments in the state. Ruwangodiya said, “So far, so good; members were registered and it was a complete success. We have no record of assault or wherever. It was a fruitful and wonderful exercise that I will live to…
The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi is an outspoken monarch who has been criticised for his position on many issues. In this interview he discusses issues ranging from politics, traditional institutions, secession and the 2023 general elections. Excerpts: There have been agitations for secession and self-determination. IPOB in the South-East is calling for the Biafra Republic, while the South-West wants Oduduwa Republic. What is your take on these agitations? My take is that there should be devolution of powers; the center has to be weak, and the states given more responsibilities. State Police should be allowed. With the…
In response to the worsening Insecurity in the Southeast zone, governors, political, religious, traditional and other leaders from the region are currently in a closed-door meeting. The meeting is believed to have been convened as a response to Saturday’s attack on the hometown of Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma. On the same day in Imo State, the commander of the IPOB’s Eastern Security Network, ESN, Ikonso, was also killed by a combined team of security operatives. TheInfoStride reports that the meeting is ongoing at the Enugu Government House. Already in attendance are the Chairman of the Forum and Ebonyi State…
A chieftain of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Oyo State, Engineer Oyedele Hakeem Alao has said that the demolition of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) staff quarters was an indication that the present administration in Oyo State lacks direction. Alao who contested the gubernatorial election on the platform of AD in 2019, made this disclosure via a statement signed by his Media Aide, Omotayo Iyanda. TheInfoStride reports that Makinde had a few days ago ordered the demolition of the staff quarters despite public outcry by the Oyo State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and other labour…
The Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the government of Governor Dapo Abiodun and the All Progressives Congress (APC) represented unlimited agony in the state. This was contained in a statement made available to the media by the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Akinloye Bankole, on Saturday. Bankole, who said the Ogun APC was pained with the growing wave of stability and harmony in the PDP in recent time, told the party that Ogun people are still awaiting all the “electoral eldorado” it promised during the campaigns. According to Bankole, Ogun government under Abiodun “should…
In his own argument, an Igbo leader of thought, Chief Abia Onyike stated that the emergence of a President of Igbo extraction in 2023 would be possible if the kingmakers agreed to make it a reality. According to him: “On the issue of Igbo disunity and Igbo presidency in 2023, if the kingmakers want to make an Igbo man president in 2023, I don’t see how it will not work. When Obasanjo was picked from prison in 1999, the Nigerian system was mobilised to instal him, not because of Yoruba unity. “After all the Yoruba never voted for Obasanjo. The…
In the South-Eastern part of the country, some youths, backed by IPOB, attempted to replicate Amotekun by establishing the Eastern Security Network, ESN. But last week, the five governors announced their regional security outfit which they called Ebube Agu. This, however, did not enjoy the overwhelming support of the people of the South East as it happened in the South West. There were discordant tunes everywhere and the opposition to the formation of Ebubeagu was so fierce that IPOB threatened that whoever joined it could be on the way to join their ancestors. Following this seeming disunity, not unusual among…
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has dismissed a news report in an online media that he was on Wednesday detained and questioned by operatives of the Economic and Financial. Fumes Commission EFCC after an attempt to bribe its chairman with $350,000. Akpabio in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Anietie Ekong on Saturday in Abuja said he was the one who sought an audience with the anti-graft agency boss on issues bordering on the transfer of funds belonging to the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC in respect of the 3% statutory remittances from Oil and Gas…
On June 26, 2021, two major rival opposition political parties in Anambra State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will conduct governorship primary election to nominate their standard bearers for the November 6, 2021 gubernatorial poll in the state. The decision to hold the crucial straw polls on the same day underscores the subsisting mutual suspicion between the two parties that moles and marginal aspirants were planted to grab the ticket for transactional purposes. Politics and elections in Anambra do not follow or flow on a predictable pattern. The only state in the country that shadows…
The factional Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Bayelsa State, Hon. Ebierien Fala Itubor, has raised the alarm over the gale of defection of party members to the main opposition party in the state, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying all is not well with the party and no pretence about it. Hon. Itubor, who lamented over the mass defection of members of the APC, including the recent defection of a serving lawmaker in the state representing the Minister of state for Petroleum, Hon. Daniel Charles, called on the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led National Caretaker Committee, to intervene or…
The war of words between members of the House of Representatives over Ali Pantami saga has continued. On Saturday, the Spokesperson of the House, Benjamin Kalu in a statement, insisted that the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu used the wrong order in his legislative intervention. The statement was in response to a press statement by the Spokesperson of the Minority Caucus, Francis Agbo, who said on Friday that Mr Kalu erroneously misrepresented legislative proceedings on the point of order raised by Elumelu. It would be recalled that Mr Elumelu had on Wednesday raised a point of Order on Privilege. Elumelu in…
The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, has given Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, conditions to support him if he opts to contest the 2023 presidential election. National President of AYCF, Yerima Shettima said the North would study his relationship with Nigerians from other regions before deciding to support Tinubu’s presidential ambition. In an exclusive chat with the media, Shettima said that the former Lagos State governor’s ability to maintain a good relationship with other regions would be a deciding factor for the North. According to Shettima: “If Tinubu decides to contest, there is a way…