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South Should Produce Next President In 2023, South-West PDP Insists

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South Should Produce Next President In 2023, South-West PDP Insists

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South-West Zone, on Tuesday insisted that Nigeria’s next president should emerge from the Southern part of the country.

The party, at an extended zonal caucus meeting held at the Oyo State Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, said that it was in support of the position of the Southern Governors’ Forum that Southern Nigeria should produce the next president.

This was as the party reaffirmed its call for the restructuring of Nigeria, stating that it will support all efforts geared towards national cohesion through equitable distribution of federal positions and appointments among the geopolitical zones of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

According to a communique read by the party’s National Vice Chairman, South-West, Hon. Olasoji Adagunodo, the party has resolved that the unity of its members in the zone is non-negotiable and that all mechanisms for dispute resolutions must be on the front burner.

The party equally resolved to do everything within its power lawfully to win the forthcoming elections in Osun and Ekiti states.

A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor, who is the leader of the party in the South-West, was commended by the caucus for his infrastructure development strides and his efforts in repositioning the PDP across states of the zone.

In his keynote speech, Governor Makinde called on all members of the party to de-emphasise whatever issues they have with individuals and unite in the interest of the party both at the zonal and national levels, as according to him, the South-West zone remained critical to the success of the PDP in the country.

He said: “We are in the election season already. The timetable is out and candidates for various positions will emerge within the next eight to nine weeks. And as PDP South-West zone, what position are we presenting?

“We know that if South-West and Yorubaland is not peaceful, things would not also be settled nationally. “That is just the fact. We have also gone through the path that, because of disunity, we were left out in the scheme of things.

“When the founding fathers of this party came together, they spoke about fairness, equity, justice and they decided that the six major positions nationally must be shared among the six zones of Nigeria. That has always been the case until 2011. Because of the in-fighting, disunity, the South-West did not have a single position out of the six national positions.

READ ALSO: Court Rules On Friday Over PDP’s Bid To Sack Ayade As Cross River Governor

“For the avoidance of doubt, I can list those six positions. In 2011, the president did not come from the South-West but South South. The vice-president did not come from the South-West but North-West.

“The Senate President came from the North-Central. The Speaker of the House of Representatives went to the North-West, while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation slot also went to the South-East. The Chairman of the party went to the North-East.

“That was how we lost all completely and we don’t want to walk through that path again. It has happened to us before and we don’t want it to happen again.

“But the only way it won’t happen again is for us to unite and de-emphasize whatever issues we have with ourselves individually. “We must come together to tell ourselves what we are going to demand nationally.”

Governor Makinde maintained that though the South-West PDP had three opportunities through the off-season elections in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun for the governorship seats, in-fighting has already made it lose in Ondo State.

“Ondo State governorship election is coming back in another two years. But before then, we have the Ekiti governorship election coming up. We thank God that we have been able to get everybody together but there is still a lot of work to be done, if Ekiti will not go the way of Ondo.

“I do pray because I know we have another opportunity to support our candidate in Ekiti State, so that in two months plus, we will have a governor-elect in the state.

“We also have Osun State, which practically is in a difficult situation. They have issues from the governorship primary, which is not supposed to be. South-West is known as the zone to provide leadership for this country.

READ ALSO: Ex-PDP Members Set To Take Over Leadership Of APC

“Truth is, we are going to be the ultimate losers and what happened in the past will happen again if we don’t get our acts together.

“I make bold to say that those aspiring for the presidency and are using our people against us, there are only two and a half months left. You can force yourself to win the party’s primary but can you force yourself on the populace?

“This is an opportunity for us to recalibrate and have a common position, moving forward in the national engagement with the unfolding scenario nationally.”

Reading the communique at the end of the meeting, Adagunodo said: “The unity of the PDP South-West Zone is a non-negotiable issue, to this end, we demand that all dispute resolution mechanisms should be on the front burner.

“The PDP South-West Zone is in support of the Southern Governors’ Forum that the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should come from the south.

“The zone commends the only PDP Governor in the zone, Engr. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, for his infrastructural and development strides in the zone.

“The zone has agreed that we should do everything possible within our power to deliver Osun and Ekiti states to the party in their forthcoming offseason governorship elections.

“The zone is desirous of fairness, justice, and equity in the distribution of federal positions and appointments and will support all efforts geared towards national cohesion through equitable distribution of federal positions and appointments amongst the geopolitical zones of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The South-West Zone reaffirms its position on restructuring of Nigeria.”

The meeting had in attendance the former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George; former Governors Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Olusegun Mimiko and Ayodele Fayose of Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states respectively; serving and former National Assembly members; former deputy governors.

Others were the PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), Ambassador Oladejo Arapaja; former governorship candidates of the PDP in Ogun and Ekiti states, Hon. Ladi Adebutu and Prof. Olusola Eleka Kolapo and other former and serving PDP leaders at the national level.

 

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BREAKING: Obi Speaks On Joining Tinubu’s Unity Government

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VIDEO: What Peter Obi Said In Port Harcourt About Other Presidential Candidates
Peter Obi

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has given insight into what his position will be if he is invited to join Bola Tinubu’s Government of National Unity.

Tinubu, the president-elect and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been taken to court by Obi over the outcome of the February 25 election.

The camp of the APC candidate had hinted that the former Lagos Governor would form an all-inclusive government to carry all his opponents along in his government.

While featuring on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, Obi was asked what he would do if he was called upon to be a member of Tinubu’s Government of National Unity.

In his response, Obi said he was still challenging the process of the election and the declaration.

According to him, the process of the election should be put right first before anyone could talk of the Government of National Unity.

“The first thing I want to see is that the process is right. The process through which you achieve anything is far more fundamental than what you do thereafter. Let us go back first, I am challenging the process and the declaration.

“Until we get it right, then we can talk about a government of national unity. Otherwise, we would go and sit down and say that those who stopped a train and kidnapped people can call us to discuss peace when they have people in captivity. Until things are done rightly, we will be encouraging what we don’t need to encourage,” he said.

When he was asked whether or not he would accept the outcome if it is not in his favour, Obi said he would be shocked if the court upholds Tinubu’s election.

His words: “Issues about the election will be sorted out in court. I will be shocked if this country goes on with that situation. It will then stand that it is a corporate criminalised country. We can’t allow it. We need to start unbundling this criminality.

“When people were talking about structure, it is this fraud and criminality that we witnessed that they were talking about, and we want to unbundle it for the sake of our children.”

The former Anambra State governor said he believes the judiciary would do the right thing.

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LP Chieftain Flays Return Of 1999 PDP as Ibori, Henchmen Seek Political Relevance In Delta APC

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BREAKING: FG Returned £4.2m Ibori Loot To Delta Govt – Accountant General
James Ibori

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State is gradually taking on the colouration of 1999 PDP with all of former Governor James Ibori’s ‘boys’ now leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in droves and finding a new home in APC to swell its ranks ahead of the guber elections on Saturday, March 18, 2023, according to a chieftain of Labour Party (LP), Chief Delly Ajufo.

Ajufo described the development as “a gathering of vultures to consume the soul of Delta State,” noting that Ibori, who has suffered a pariah status under Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s 8-year administration, now has a chance to reclaim his “godfather or grand commander” position over his godson, guber candidate of APC and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

According to him, Ibori looks to resume his godfather position as Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos State, a position that slipped out of his hands since his stint in the UK prison.

Ajufo said Deltans needed to be wary of Senator Omo-Agege’s governorship bid, and see it as a backdoor for Ibori to re-take control of the management of the state’s resources in a manner likely to be worse than the 1999 – 2007 era when he was governor. He warned that Deltans could not have forgotten how Ibori raped the fortunes of the state in his eight-year administration by corruptly enriching himself and his cronies (including Sen. Omo-Agege) that earned him a UK prison sentence. He described the APC as PDP-2 trying to upstage Okowa’s PDP-1 from power, saying Deltans should reward both of them with electoral defeat since both parties have run the country (APC – 8 years) and Delta State (PDP – 24 years) badly.

He argued that none of them deserves to occupy the seat of power in Asaba come May 29, 2023.

The Labour Party chieftain also said the gathering of Ibori’s political family under APC is dark and ominous for the state, and urged the electorate to reject both ‘PDAPC’ at the polls on Saturday, and vote for Labour Party (LP) as the only political breath of fresh air that Delta people need now.

“We must sever our links with the people from both parties that have collectively ruined the fortunes of this oil-rich state by running it aground since 1999,” he noted.

Ajulo added that Ibori trying to reclaim his faded godfather position, using APC as his new launch pad was tantamount to vultures gathering to feast on the carcass of a dying animal, a situation that Deltans should not wait to see but to halt it in its tracks outright.

“This is a gathering of vultures and it does not augur well for our beloved Delta State,” said Ajufo.

“Ibori wants to use the APC backdoor to reclaim his faded godfather status since all his allies are dumping PDP in droves and moving over to APC. The signs are not good for Deltans who have been pauperised for so many years in spite of the huge oil wealth that comes to the state monthly. I urge Deltans to see through the evil that’s about to befall them if they elect Ovie Omo-Agege. Of course, PDP is dead, going by February 25, 2023 election. There is no need to bother about it. Deltans will bury whatever remains of it in the guber elections.

“The nightmare we must all now resist is APC taking over. Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege was SSG and Commissioner under Ibori’s eight-year reign of wasted resources in Delta from 1999 – 2007. A vote for Omo-Agege is a vote for the return of Ibori into Delta’s mainstream, with his baggage of corruption and mismanagement of state resources. Delta is tired of another Tinubu returning to pillage the coffers of the state for his selfish interests. We cannot afford to ‘carry last’ on this matter.”

The chief urged Deltans to do for Labour Party what they did on February 25 when they massively voted for Labour Party and Peter Obi, saying they should do the same for the party’s governorship candidate, Deacon Ken Pela and all House of Assembly candidates. He called on all women to look the way of Labour Party’s candidate, Dcn Ken Pela for the governorship election, adding, “We also call on women to rally their own fellow woman, an educationist and erudite scholar, Prof. Nwabogo-Umukoro, to represent and champion women’s causes in government at the highest decision-making level.”

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Fayose Quits PDP, Reveals How Ayu Led Atiku To Golgotha

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PDP Crisis To Get Messier - Fayose

A former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has disclosed how the national chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party ( PDP) Iyorchia Ayu led the presidential candidate of the party Atiku Abubakar to what he called Golgotha.

Fayose spoke while announcing his resignation from the main opposition party, PDP.

Fayose announced his resignation from the PDP yesterday while appearing as a guest on a programme on ARISE News. Fayose served as Governor of Ekiti State from 2003 to 2007 and 2011 to 2015 on PDP’s ticket.

However, his decision to quit the party appears to be connected with perceived irreconcilable differences in the PDP, which according to him, has fractured the party.

He said: “Let me say this, from today(yesterday) I stay off PDP. In party politics there are certain facts you must be able to speak. I am 62 and I can’t, at this age, begin lying. When something is wrong with your family, confess.”

The former governor, who claimed to have fought for the interest of the party over the years, blamed the loss of the PDP in the presidential election on the leadership of the party.

According to him, PDP was already fractured before the election, with so many aggrieved aspirants whom were allegedly swindled by the leadership of the party on one hand and the inability of the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar to reach an agreement with the G-5 governors.

Fayose traced the problem of the PDP to the North-west zonal congress which he said was rigged against Rabiu Kwankwaso in favour of Aminu Tambuwal that led to the latter leaving theparty.

“I warned Atiku that the problem will consume PDP. I told him there was danger ahead,” he said, adding that the G-5 governors demanded that Atiku make a official announcement to run for only one term and hand over to any member in the south but “Ayu was leading Atiku to Golgotha.”

Fayose warned Labour Party’s candidate and second runner up in the presidential polls, Peter Obi to “run away from the PDP” as the current ovation for the opposition has nothing to do with the PDP.

According to him, if the PDP had believed in Obi, they should have given him the party’s ticket.

He saluted Obi’s courage for being able to defeat the likes of Tinubu in Lagos, describing him as “A phenomenon” and “the man of the moment”, stressing that Obi’s victory in Lagos has proved that things are no longer the same.

He argued that for Obi to win in Lagos shows the process was so transparent and as such the outcome of the election should be accepted by all.

Fayose attributed the credibility of the polls to the use of the BVAS which, according to him, is responsible for a realistic number of voters compared to the past when over a million votes were churned out from some states in the Northern part of the country.

He, however, faulted some of the protesters, calling for the cancellation of the polls, describing them as paid agents of the PDP.

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